Maybe Someday
by Bunny Mina
Summary: The gang is facing a lot of new challenges and pressures. Some of them even go to extremes to figure out who they are. But will they go to far? JonesyxNikki, JudexCaitlin, plus a surprising pairing as well.
1. Good Something

I got inspired for this story because of the things some of my friends have told me they're done to figure out who they are and deal with the pressure of the world. I'm going to use the characters of 6teen to tell their stories. Enjoy! (R&R!)

I do not own 6teen or any of it's characters.

***

"I'll have a lemon whip, please," said Talon.

"Coming right up!" Caitlin grabbed two lemons from the bowl and began preparing his drink.

"So, Caitlin, I've been thinking." Talon ran his hand through his hair. "What if we started hanging out again? We could get back together."

Caitlin struggled with the blender. "Um, sorry, but I already have a boyfriend and I'm pretty into him."

"Who? That Jude guy? He's barely there. He acts like he's half stoned all the time."

"Jude's a great guy." The blender kicked into high gear. "No! Stop!" Caitlin struggled to get it back under control. "He's really sweet and he acts just fine."

"Whatever. You'll be missing me soon enough." Talon stretched his arms.

The blender had begun to shake violently. "If I don't miss you by now-ah-I never-grr!-will!" The top exploded off the blender coating them both in sweet, sticky lemon goop. "Arg! This job sucks!"

Talon shook some of the lemon sludge out of his hair. "Don't worry about the lemon whip. I'll just swing by Grind Me. I'll catch you later, Caitlin. Let me know when you come to your senses."

"I already have!" Caitlin called after him. "What a jerk..." She noticed that some of the ruined lemon whip had landed in her shirt. "Ew..." She felt it slide down her stomach sending a disgusted shiver down her spine.

"Hey beautiful!"

Caitlin looked up to see Jude smiling at her, his eyes sparkling. "I don't know how you can say that when I'm all covered in this gross lemon stuff."

"It's kinda hot..."

"Ew! Jude!" She playfully punched his arm. "Don't say that sort of creepy stuff."

"Fine, fine, but I won't stop thinking it." Jude winked.

"Fair enough. What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be at Underground right now? You know, working?"

Jude shrugged. "Wayne's been really lax the past few days. I figured I could get a away for a little while and chill with you for a bit."

"Cool! Go Wayne."

"Yeah, besides, I, uh, I got something for ya."

Caitlin raised her eyebrows. "Really? What is it?"

"Well, I know that anniversaries really mean a lot to girls and I really like you and stuff and so I wanted to give you something for our four months that I know you really wanted so that it would make you think of me and stuff and it's okay if you don't like it because I can always take it back or get something else or something and even if-" Jude was silenced as she kissed him gently on the lips.

"Jude, you're rambling. What is it?"

"Uh, well, here. I hope you like it." Jude set a small box on the Big Squeeze counter top.

"Ooh!" Caitlin untied the small bow and opened the box. "Aw... Jude!" She held up a silver butterfly pendant with a diamond on the corner of each of it's wings. "I love it!"

"I saw you checking it out the other day when we went with Wyatt to pick out his mom's birthday present. The chain thing that it goes on is under the cotton thingy they stuck in there."

Caitlin slipped the butterfly on it's chain and tried to fasten it around her neck. "Ugh, I'm so bad at this."

"Here, lemme try." Jude stepped into the lemon, slipped behind her and clipped the chain closed. Caitlin could feel his warm breath on her collarbones as he kissed her gently on the neck. "Kinda tastes like lemons."

"It's the lemon whip that exploded." Caitlin turned around to face him. "Thank you, Jude. I really love it. I'll wear it everyday. I have something for you too, actually."

"Seriously? You didn't have to get me anything, dudette."

"I know, but I wanted too. It was fun picking something out for you." She handed him a red gift bag. Jude reached in and pulled out a new pair of skateboard trucks.

"Duu-ude! Awesome! I really needed some new ones. Mine are about to kick the bucket."

"I know it isn't very romantic, but I thought you'd like some new ones. I had to have Jonesy help me get them though. I didn't know which ones were the right ones for your skateboard..."

"No way, this is awesome."

"I'm glad you like it." She kissed him. "I guess you need to get to work, huh?"

"Yeah, I don't want to press my luck with Wayne. I'll see you when I get off." Jude jumped over the lemon counter.

"What's this about getting off?" Jonesy asked as he and Nikki approached the lemon.

"Jonesy!" Nikki protested.

"I'm just joking." Jonesy replied.

"I'm off bros and bras. Later!" Jude skated in the direction of Underground Video.

"Bye Jude!" they all called.

"So, what's up?" asked Caitlin.

Nikki clapped Jonesy on the shoulder. "Casanova here just got himself fired from another job."

"You mean the art modeling thing? What did you do?" Caitlin asked.

"He didn't realize it wasn't nude modeling." Nikki said as she pulled up a chair at the gang's favorite table.

"They just couldn't handle the Jonesmeister" Jonesy gloated as Wyatt walked up behind him, coffee in hand. "I barely had my pants off before they started calling security."

"Woah! Bad part of the conversation to walk up on. What happened exactly?" Wyatt asked, disconcerted.

"I got fired from the Art Cellar because I thought they wanted me to model nude," explained Jonesy.

"Wow. So how many jobs have you lost so far because you got naked?" Wyatt asked.

"If you count the mooning thing at Albatross and Finch, then six."

"You're almost a public menace." Caitlin mused.

"Hey, as long as I stay under the Ron the Rent-A-Cop's radar I should be fine," said Jonesy.

"Hey, maggot!" Ron strode up to the table. "I heard about the little stunt you pulled at the Art Cellar. You try that again and I'll have you doing community service for a year! I've got my eye on you..." Ron took a final look at the crowd of teens. "On all of you for that matter."

Jonesy slammed his face onto the table as Ron strode off. "Aw, man!!" The others laughed.

"Bad luck today, huh Jonesy?" Wyatt said as he sipped his coffee. Jonesy only covered his head with his hands.

"Not as bad as Jen, apparently. Check her out!" Nikki observed as Jen walked up. She looked ragged, like she'd had no sleep, no makeup, no shower. Jen slammed her face onto the table next to Jonesy's.

"What happened to you?" Jen asked, her voice muffled under her hair.

"I got fired for stripping in an art class which then got me onto Ron the Rent-A-Cop's hit list. You?"

"Coach is having his annual mid-season crisis. He's expecting everyone to stay after hours to help with inventory, stack hockey gear, and do whatever else he pulls out of the air."

"That's not so bad." Caitlin, the ever optimistic one, corrected.

"Not unless you're me: The Assistant Coach. He's got me running ragged trying to get everything done! I can't take it anymore! I haven't come home before 11 o'clock at night a single day this week!" Jen exclaimed.

"She's got a point there. I've never seen anyone go through an entire refrigerator of leftovers at midnight before. Not even Jude!" said Jonesy.

"I beg to differ," replied Caitlin.

"Hey, where is Jude, anyway?" asked Jen.

"You just missed him. He took off for Underground," Caitlin answered.

"I should probably go too, McFlipster's is coming out with a new burger: The Total Pounder. It's a burger with an entire pound of meat in it and yours truly has to write a song about it for the customers." said Wyatt.

"Good luck Burger Boy!" Nikki said.

"I'll need it. One more thing: if you guys see Serena, tell her I'm off sick... for the entire week." Wyatt added.

"What's the deal with Serena?" asked Jen.

"Ever since Marlowe told her about how I'm such a great guy, she's been hounding me about getting back together. She's almost acting like a stalker. It's weirding me out. Yesterday, she sat outside McFlipster's for six hours waiting for me to get off work!" Wyatt exclaimed.

"What did you do?" wondered Caitlin.

"I slipped out the back... and she caught me. Don't ask me happened after that, because I don't want to talk about it. See you guys on my break!"

"I'm off too. Todays' the day I finally get Wayne to give me a second-er- that is, third chance!" Jonesy proclained.

"Go get 'em, tiger." Nikki said. After Jonesy was gone, she turned back to Jen and Caitlin. "He's not getting that job."

"Nope!" Jen and Caitlin said in unison.

"Hey! Cool necklace Caitlin!" Jen noted.

Caitlin touched the butterfly around her neck. "Tee-hee. Thanks. Jude gave it to me. Today's our four months."

"Aw! That's so sweet. Who knew Jude had it in him?" Jen remarked.

"He just keeps surprising me." Caitlin said, smiling to herself.

"Hmm..." Jen looked knowingly over at Nikki.

"What's that look for?" Nikki worried.

"It looks like Caitlin isn't the only one who has some new jewelry on." Jen glanced down at Nikki's hand where an amethyst ring glittered in the sunshine coming in through the mall's windowed ceiling.

"It's not what you think it is! It doesn't mean anything." Nikki tried to explain.

"It's a promise ring, isn't it?" Caitlin asked. She loved this sort of thing. It was so romantic. She touched Jude's neckalce again. Maybe somday...

"It's just a ring. It's not an engagement ring. It's not a promise ring. It's just a ring to say 'I Love You'. It's an 'I Love You' ring. Jonesy and I are only 17! Well, I'm nearly 18, but still, we're really young. Too young to get engaged or promised or anything." Nikki explained. "All we're doing right now is figuring ourselves out. He is and I am. Neither of us are sure who we are exactly and we can't just commit to each other for the rest of our lives if we might change our personalities or feelings."

"That's actually really sensible. I've come to expect that from you, but not Jonesy. He's still such a kid." Jen approved.

"Jonesy's a lot more responsible than we give him credit for. Bad judgement skills, but a responsible outlook on life... really really bad judgement skills." Nikki said. The girls laughed.

"I'm glad you guys are happy together." Caitlin said.

"Me too. I've gotta get back to the Tacky Barn. Wish me luck, it's sale day." Nikki stood up.

"It is!? I'm coming by later. I just got paid on Monday and there are these really cute slides that I've had my eye on." Caitlin said. No matter how much she had mellowed out in the past year, no matter how much she had shed her shallowness, Caitlin had never lost her will to shop.

"Only if you can beat the Clones to them."

"No worries. I'm a trained shopper."

"MASTERSON!!" Coach Halder stormed up to the table. "You're supposed to be reorganizing the badmitton gear, not lolly gagging with your friends."

"But Coach-"

"But nothing Masterson! Ten minutes in the penalty box!" Halder grabbed her arm and pulled her back the sports store.

"Bye guys!" Jen called to her friends.

"She wasn't kidding about Mid-Season Crisis." Nikki remarked. "Later Caitlin!"

"Bye Nikki!" Caitlin pulled out a rag and began to wipe the sticky lemon gunk off of the counter. Everything was so wonderful these days. She had Jude, who she really really cared about. He was the only guy she'd dated longer than a few days. Nikki and Jonesy were still happy and in love, despite the occasional argument. And even though Wyatt acted like he hated writing jingles for , she knew he secretly loved being paid to play his beloved music. Even Jen had her dream job, despite the fact Coach Halder was having a power trip right now. Everything was perfect. Caitlin glanced at one of the quotes that Starr had taped to the lemon when she and Jude were still together. 'When it all going good, expect something bad.' Caitlin tossed the dirty rag over the quote so that only 'Good Something' remained visible. Whatever.

***

This chapter was mainly to explain all the different character's relations to one another. Sorry there wasn't much action... and if a few people were OOC. Anyway, the story will pick up a bit more next chapter. Thanks for reading! :)


	2. Shut Up

"Let's see... what rhymes with delicious?" Wyatt sat in a booth at McFlipsters, his feet kicked up on the table, notepad in hand. "Precious... it's a stretch. Haha. Fergalicious. That's a good one." He pretended to write it down.

"What about malicious?" Said a voice from behind.

"Aah!!" Unprepared for the sudden noise, Wyatt bolted out of the booth and caught his foot against one of his pants legs. Wyatt went sprawling across the cold, hard diner floor as a dull pain crossed his ankle. He looked up to see Serena smiling down at him. _'I really, really don't have time for this,'_ he thought _'maybe I can get her out of her quickly so I can have a stress-free afternoon... for once.'_

"Hey Wyatt! Did I scare you?"

_'No, I just had a sudden urge to break dance.'_ Wyatt thought sarcastically. "Just a little bit. I'm okay though. Good workout for the.. uh... heart. You know, ticking, jumping.... stopping... and all." Wyatt said. "What... are you here for exactly?"

"Just wanted to say hey... and, you know, see if you were busy later. But, uh, yeah, a weird thing happened. I asked Nikki where you were and she said you were sick, which is weird because I saw you come in this morning. I guess I also came by to make sure you were okay... or something." Serena explained.

_'Just get her out fast man, you can fix it all later. She might try to do something weird...'_

"Yeah, yeah, Nikki's weird- but I'm okay so you should probably get back to Spin This or Grind Me or... wherever the hell you came from." Wyatt hoisted himself off the floor and began nudging Serena to the door. She was a lot heavier than he remembered, but that might have been her shoes digging into the floor.

"But I don't have to be at work yet. I'm free for another hour. Maybe we could get coffee or why don't we get some catching up done?"

"Um, yeah, catching up... well, life's great, writing a jingle, working hard, hardly working, and all that jazz. You?" Wyatt asked.

"Actually, I've really been missing y-"

"Good to hear it! Bye now! Don't take candy from strangers or anything." Wyatt gave her a final shove towards the exit.

"I get the feeling you're avoiding me, Wyatt."

"Me? No! Just busy, busy, busy..." Wyatt and Serena locked eyes. Somethings don't change. He still knew her favorite music and how she liked all the mixes he had burned for her. She still knew how he liked his coffee. And somewhere, deep beneath the surface of what was going on between the two of them, they both still knew how to make the other laugh. He couldn't help but remember what they were like when they were together... and happy no less! The old wound pricked him a bit. It almost made him nauseous to think about how she'd hurt him. How she'd made him the happiest guy alive and then ripped him apart... for Chad no less! This was why he had to keep Serena out of his life for good. If he ever fell for her again, she would hurt him too much in the long run. He needed to start new with someone else... but telling Serena that wasn't so easy. "Catch you later, Serena." Her gaze softened and she only lifted up a hand and waved in response. As he heard the door close behind him, he limped back to his table, scooped the notepad off the ground, and sighed. "Malicious really is a good word..."

"You're darn right it is!" Wyatt looked up to see Jonesy kicked back at a neighboring table. Leave it to Jonesy to be right where the drama is.

"You heard the whole thing, I guess?" Wyatt flopped down across the table from Jonesy.

"Kinda. I came in at her 'malicious' suggestion."

"That's where it started."

"Then yes, I heard the whole thing." Jonesy slapped Wyatt on the back. "Wyatt, man, you really need to grow some back bone with this whole 'Serena Thing' because this has got to stop. You need to look her in the eye and tell her 'No Deal!', tell her that Wyatt machine is out-of-order, tell her that she's got a one way ticket out of your world, tell her that-"

"Jonesy, I've got the picture."

"Good! You're the greatest, but you really have no guts."

"Wow, thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, whip me up a burger."

Wyatt sighed. "Do I have to sing?"

"Yes, you have to sing."

***

"I heard that you and Jonesy are engaged," remarked Kirsten.

Nikki strangled the baby tee she'd been unfolding. It wasn't the first time that day that someone had asked her about her so-called 'engagement', not counting Jen's reaction to her ring. Where was everyone getting this from? _'Be civil, Nik. You need this job. Traveling money. Traveling money!!!'_ Nikki turned to Kirsten and tossed the tee onto the counter. She forced herself to flash the blonde a huge grin. "No, that's not the case."

"Really?" Kristen was in on it now. "Then what's that rock on your finger?"

This was getting ridiculous. "It's just a ring! For no reason! It means nothing! No engagement, no nothing! Why can't anyone let it be?" Nikki let her head fall onto the Khaki Barn counter and muffled a frustrated groan into the pile of vintage wash jeans.

"Ugh, don't have a cow, Nikki. If you want to deny your engagement so badly, we'll let you. Don't freak out on us. Besides, no one's going to buy those jeans if your face has been all over them." Kristen said as Kirsten nodded in agreement.

"But we're not engaged!! And I _hope_ no one buys those jeans."

"Whatever." the two replied in unison.

Chrissy came out of the back with a huge box. "Okay, we just got a shipment of boyfriend hoodies so let's start restocking girls!" She handed each of them a stack of hoodies. "Don't forget: pink ones go in the back and baby blue ones go in the middle." She handed the final stack to Nikki. "Here. Oh! I almost forgot, congrats on being engaged!"

Nikki let out a growl of frustration and tossed the now unfolded black hoodies on the table. "I'm taking a break." She stalked towards the front of the store. When she reached the door she turned back and called "And I'm not engaged!"

Chrissy stood in surprise. "She's not?"

***

"Where are those hockey pads, Masterson?" Coach Halder yelled.

"Right here, Coach!" Jen scrambled to gesture to the brand new pads stacked perfectly on their shelf.

"Very good. And the sticks?"

"To the left. Pucks to the right. Goalie masks above. I promise you, everything is perfect!"

"Well done. Now, go out and get me lunch. I don't care what. Surprise me." At that moment a kid on roller skates came flying past the two right into Jen's then-perfect hockey display. Hockey gear flew everywhere. Halder nudged some of the masks back toward the original location of the display and sighed. "Clean this up when you get back, Masterson."

Jen gritted her teeth. "Right. Away. Coach."

***

Caitlin sighed in satisfaction. "There. The lemon's all clean." After three hours of scrubbing, sponging, wiping, and a quick shower at the mall's gym, both Caitlin and the Lemon were completely lemon-whip-sludge free. Caitlin looked up just in time to see Jen and Nikki striding up to the lemon. Both of them looking pissed.

The two started screaming in unison. "I can't take it anymore! This is ridiculous! You're situation is ridiculous?! Look at mine! Stop saying everything in stereo with me!"

"You guys!" Caitlin interrupted. "Just calm down. Here." She set two smoothies on the counter. "They're on me. Now, Jen, tell us what happened. Then, we'll listen to Nikki's story."

Jen sipped ferociously on her smoothie. "Halder won't give me a break! I can't do it anymore. I know I said that this morning, but this last shift was way, way worse. There is no way that it can be any worse than this. I can only pray the basketball equipment gets delayed because it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow and I just can't do it!!"

"You think that's bad?" Nikki rebutted. "Try this on for size: I've had exactly eight people including you and Caitlin come up to me this morning- just this morning, not to say for yesterday- and ask me if Jonesy and I are getting married! And when I say no they act like I'm lying! Why won't anyone believe me?"

"We believe you!" Caitlin offered.

Nikki managed a half-smile. "Thanks, but... I need a plan to get people to stop asking me about my relationship with Jonesy. It's driving me nuts!"

Caitlin subconsciously began fiddling with her necklace from Jude. "If only there were some way to get people to think twice."

"I know, I know! Do you guys mind thinking about it for me?"

"Nope."

"No problem."

"Thanks. Jen, I honestly don't know what we can do to help you out, though." Nikki took a sip of her smoothie.

"All I really need is a chance to vent about it all. My stress levels are killing me."

"Don't worry. My mom's big into the herbal supplement scene these days. I can get you some stress-relieving stuff. Just keep in mind that the crisis is almost over." Nikki assured her.

Jen smiled. "Thanks. If you'd bring it to me, I'd really appreciate it." Jen stood up. "Well, I better go find something for Halder's lunch. I can only be gone so long before it gets suspicious. Later guys! Thanks for the smoothie, Cait."

Nikki and Caitlin waved. Caitlin continued to play with her necklace as Nikki sipped on her smoothie. This was nice. After a few weeks of stand-offish tolerance, Nikki and Caitlin had actually gotten to be good friends. So good, that the silence they shared now didn't feel awkward in the least. Their friendship was like your favorite movie. You've seen it a million times, and by now, hearing it in the background while you do your homework or relax in your room is like a security blanket. An understood, familiar comfort. Even if Caitlin got too excited about shoes sometimes and Nikki remained her ever-sarcastic self, the two could sit in the silence of each others company, snuggled into their security blanket.

"What if I gave the ring back?" Nikki mused.

"No way! It would crush him. He put a lot of thought into getting that ring for you. He'd be so hurt if or gave it back to him."

"You're right. What if I wore gloves all the time?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Hey bras! What happenin'?" Jude rolled up to the table and popped his board up into his hand. He caught sight of Nikki's perplexed appearance. "Woah. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm trying to get people to stop asking me if I'm engaged."

"Oh, cause of that ring Jonesy got you? Just wear it around your neck. That's what my sister did when she tried to hide her engagement from our mom. It worked for a little while, at least."

Nikki's face brightened. "Jude! You're a genius!" She threw her arms around him.

"Wow. That's the first time anyone's told me that before."

"Well, they should tell you more often. It's perfect. We sell necklace chains right next to the Khaki Barn register, too! You're now responsible for my first and last official purchase from the Khaki Barn. I'll catch you guys later!" Nikki whisked herself off to the Khaki Barn in a joyous euphoria.

"Good plan, Jude." Caitlin said.

"I try to learn from life experiences. Anyway, I'm on break. Can you ditch the Lemon for a bit?"

"Totally. I'm dying to get out of this lemon hat." She tossed the hat under the counter and pulled the lemon closed. For a moment, the world was completely quiet. The darkness and familiarity of the inside of the lemon wrapped her up until she opened the hatch at the back of the giant fruit and the light of the rest of the mall poured in. Her eyes struggled to adjust as she took a step out of the shop. She felt a strong hand on her shoulder followed by lips on hers as Jude pushed her back inside. "Jude?! What are you doing?" He flopped back against one of the cabinets beneath the counter and pulled her against his chest.

"I'm tired. Let's just chill here for a while. Just you and me?"

"O-okay, just don't..."

"I won't try anything weird, I promise." He kissed her on the forehead. Just feeling her in his arms was enough. Having her so close to him, having her all to himself, was enough. He felt her snuggle against his chest. His lack of sleep from the night before over took him and he felt his eyelids grow heavy until he could no longer hold them open. He and Starr had done this once behind the counter of Stick-It. She'd called in sick to work and they'd just laid there all day, sleeping. But doing it with Caitlin was totally different. She felt differently, smelled differently, made him feel differently. She was the only girl he'd ever met that made him want to be mellow and chilled out while at the same time be exciting and adventurous. And he mellowed her out as well. She was way calmer, actually. Jude used the last of his strength to hold her a little tighter before he fell asleep.

Caitlin sensed Jude fall into slumber. When she closed her eyes she could feel his heart beat. Constant. Rhythmic. Steady. She took the opportunity to memorize that moment. She soaked in how soft his shirt felt against her cheek, how warm he felt with his arms around her, how his shallow breathing matched hers, and how the even beating of his heart slowly became a metronome in her ear. Maybe he was the one. For real this time... Maybe.

***

Jude's cell phone blared into the still quiet of the lemon's interior making him jump. He slammed his head on the bottom of the lemon counter sending pain searing through his mind. He grabbed his head and tried to get a hold of himself. The phone rang again. Jude sighed angrily. He flipped the offending object open. "What, dude?"

"Jude? Woah, no need to get all pissy. It's just a phone call." Jonesy replied, a bit annoyed that his presence, however verbally, had had such a bad reception.

Jude rubbed his head a bit and applied pressure with his hand. "Sorry, dude, I- uh- I wasn't expecting you." Jude noted that Caitlin was nowhere to be seen. _'Weird...'_ he thought.

"Eh, it's cool. Okay, listen: Zombie Avengers finally came out on DVD and we need to meet up tonight and watch it."

"Seriously!? It's supposed to be sick! I'm there. Want me to tell Wyatt?" Jude momentarily forgot his injury in the excitement of this new information. He and Jonesy had been dying for that particular film to come out for a long time and, wonderfully, that time was now.

"You can, but I wouldn't bother. You know he can't make it through horror movies, no matter what he tries to convince himself of." Jonesy cautioned.

Jude chuckled. "Dead on, bro. I'll catch you later."

"Later."

The two boys hung up and Jude went to stand up, hitting his already injured head on the counter once again. "Oh, f- agh!!" The lemon was flooded with light momentarily as Caitlin stepped into the giant fruit, then was cast into darkness once again.

"Hey!... What are you doing to your head?" Caitlin asked as she raised an eyebrow at Jude's crunched position. He was holding his head between his knees with both hands.

"I think I gave myself a concussion, so I'm applying pressure to stop the pain." Jude replied.

Caitlin laughed. "I'm pretty sure that pressure only stops bleeding, not pain. Let me see." She moved his hands away. The area in question was slowly forming a bump. "I doubt it's a concussion. Your skull is thicker than that. You'll have a bruise though." She winked to indicate she was joking about the thick skull bit.

"Sweet, I don't think I'd be able to compete in the Skate Competition in Vancouver with a concussion."

She ruffled his hair, giving him an apologetic look when he winced as she brushed his already forming bruise. "I think you can make it through."

"Thanks." Jude's phone beeped. "Ha! I was ready for you this time!" He taunted to the phone as he checked the screen. "That's Wayne. I guess that means I should head back to Underground." The two exited the lemon.

"Good luck." Caitlin said.

Jude shrugged. "It's just Wayne. If anything we'll have an Action Movie Knowledge Showdown." He gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'll win for sure."

"Not with that concussion."

Jude chuckled. "Shut up, dude."

"Make me." She said, daring him to kiss her with the risk of being caught by Ron the Rent-A-Cop.

...

He made her shut up.

******

I promise for some real plot development next chapter. I have to admit though, I was tickled to see Fergalicious pop up in my spell check. This just felt like a continuation of Chapter 1 for me as I was writing it, but the things that happened are important later on so I'll just have to bear with it. Anyway, like I said, plot development is on it's way to you. Yes, you.


	3. Best Friends

Jude flopped back onto Jonesy's bed and opened a can of soda. He took a large sip and smiled inwardly at the way the drink tickled his nose. It was one of those things that never change no matter what happens. Jude liked that. Jonesy crashed next to him and stuck the remote out in front of him.

"Zombie heaven, here we come!" he said as he took a sip of Jude's soda and handed it back to him.

"That's an indirect kiss." Jude mused.

"You'll be alright. All the girls at the mall are." Jonesy quipped.

"I wouldn't say all of them." Jude shot back. He took the final sip and crushed the can in his hand. He tossed it across the room into the watsebasket. "Woo! Didn't even touch the rim."

"Hey! The first and last time you ever score. Way to go man."

"You're hilarious, dude." Jude was used to Jonesy's remarks. He knew he meant nothing by them and now that they were out of the awkward puberty stage, it really didn't matter anymore. "Are we going to watch this or what?"

Jonesy pointed the remote at the screen. "Let's do this."

***

Nikki hoisted her duffle bag onto her shoulder. The weight of two days worth of clothes plus toiletries tugged on her shoulder. She grabbed a stack of movies off of her nightstand and shoved them into the bag as well. She glanced around her room and went over her mental checklist one last time. A DVD copy of Dawgtoy's last concert beckoned to her from on top of her stereo. She sighed. _'Why not?' _That, too, was forced into bag. Nikki noted that it was getting a bit snug. Satisfied that everything was in order, she backed out of her room and made sure to close the door behind her. No need for her parents to have an excuse to get curious. As she made her way down the staircase, Nikki subconsciously went to play with her ring. Her heart skipped a beat momentarily when she felt nothing but skin, then fell back into rhythm when she remembered it around her neck. It would take some getting used to, but it was definitely working. Despite her protests, her parents still gave her presumptuous, knowing looks about the whole situation. Thankfully, however, those had been cut in half due to the fact she could now tuck the situation in question into her shirt if need be. Nikki grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl in the kitchen and noticed the bills stuffed under the bananas. Her parents would probably go to jail without her. She tossed the envelopes onto the table.

"I'm off to Cailtin's! Bills are on the table!" She called to her parents.

"Hey! You found them again. That's another point! I'll make a note of it!" Mr. Wong called back. Her parents thought it was great fun to stick the bills in random places so that they didn't have to think about them right then. The downside was that they always forgot where they were, so it was up to responsible Nikki to find them. The worst was when they turned up in her box of tampons. Sadly, the points her father pretended to award her never amounted to anything. If 100 points earned her a CD or something, she wouldn't mind their bill-hunted charade. But they didn't, so the countless points she'd earned over the years simply faded into black abyss, a frenzy of pick-up sticks in the darkness.

"Bye you guys!" Nikki said.

"Ciao, Darling!" Mrs. Wong answered. She must've just finished an Audrey Hepburn film.

Nikki tossed her bag into her passenger seat and revved up the car. It was starting to get cold outside and unfortunately, the old car took a long time to heat up. Caitlin's wasn't far off, so Nikki didn't bother to grab the jacket out of her back seat. She and Jen had decided to crash at Caitlin's for the weekend. Boys tended to get in the way of girl time these days, and they were all in desperate need of it. A weekend of nothing but estrogen was far overdue.

***

_'Why am I here?'_ Wyatt thought as he rested his forehead on a table at Grind Me. Serena had caught up with him after he got off work and Wyatt 'Nice Guy' Williams had nice guyed himself all the way to Grind Me with her. _'I wish I had been born with Jonesy's resolve. Then I would be at home playing my guitar and catching up on my reading, not going on an awkward date (is it a date?) with my ex-girlfriend.'_

"I got you your usual!" Serena set the drink onto the table in front of Wyatt's head. Wyatt lifted his head to look at the drink. The cup oozed with the delicious smell of coffee. It soothed his perplexed soul.

Wyatt smiled. "Thanks. I owe you one." He took a sip and let the warm liquid fill his stomach, heating him from the inside out. Serena giggled. "What?" She pointed to his face. He reached up to find that a foam mustache had formed on his upper lip.

"Here, I got it." She grabbed a napkin and wiped it off for him. "Now you owe me two."

"Looks like it. At least that's not the worst mustache I've had."

"What? You mean the time Marlowe and Jude tried to embarrass you so you'd write good songs?" Once, Jude had attacked him in the men's washroom and put him in a man thong, cowboy boots, and drawn a mustache on him in Sharpie. He'd had to run across the mall to work so he could get some more clothes. Unfortunately, Ron had found him first.

Wyatt blushed. "How did you know about that?!"

She shrugged. "Word gets around. Especially when it's something like that. People eat that stuff up. It's not everyday a cowboy in a thong runs through the west end of the mall." Serena swilled her coffee in it's cup.

"Great." Wyatt sighed. "Well, at least I ended up with a half-way decent song."

"Really? Can I hear it someday?"

"You haven't yet? I put up my demo CD at Spin This." Wyatt said, immediately noticing that he sounded like an arrogant jerk. "I mean, I don't suppose you have." Now, he sounded bitter. "I mean-"

Serena held a up a hand to stop his rambling and smiled. "I know what you mean. Yeah, I've picked it up a few times, but I've never actually listened to it. To be honest, I was worried there would be a bitter breakup song on it."

"Nah, I've kinda grown out of that stage. I guess I've grown up a good bit." Wyatt liked to think that he'd gotten more mature over the past few months.

"I can tell. Too bad there won't be anymore debacles where you trash me in front of the whole store." Serena raised a knowing eyebrow at him.

"Did I ever tell you I was _really _sorry about that?" Wyatt said pleadingly.

Serena kicked back in her chair. "I can remember a few incidents where that took place."

"Well, I was...am. Hey, remember the time..."

They continued to stroll down memory lane, only stopping every now and then to refill their coffee.

***

Nikki peeked into Caitlin's room. She saw the blonde as well as Jen splayed across Caitlin's bed, Caitlin draped over Jen's knees, letting the radio DJ explain to them the importance of political awareness. "Here." Nikki tossed a gray bottle of pills in Jen's direction. "It's the stress stuff I mentioned earlier."

Jen's sports reflexes kicked in immediately and she caught the bottle without a second thought. "Awesome!" Jen immediately read the directions and popped two of the small pills into her mouth. "I hope these work."

"They should. My mom takes them during the Christmas holidays and it keeps her pretty sane." Nikki tossed her bag onto the ground.

"Why is your mom stressed during the holidays? They're fun!" Caitlin asked, sitting up on her elbows.

"You haven't met the rest of my family. My parents are crazy, but they're the tame ones in our family. And all the crazies always end up visiting us on the exact same day."

"Harsh." Jen mused.

"Thanksgiving is worse." Nikki decided. The three girls took a moment to imagine the hypothetical crisis. All three shuddered. Yikes. "Let's think about something else."

***

Wyatt panted and leaned against a pillar it the mall's indoor theme park. "I can't do it again. I have... I have to sit down. No more." He and Serena had just ridden the Vomit Comet four times and he felt that if they rode it one more time he would lose consiousness. He lay his back on the large stone column and slid down so that he sat on the ground.

Serena sat next to him, giggling at the sight of him. After her laughter died down, she pulled her knees up to her chest, lay her cheek on them, and closed her eyes. The two sat in silence for a bit while Wyatt caught his breath. That last blood-curdling scream had really taken it out of him. "Thanks for coming with me, Wyatt."

"Oh. No problem, Serena. I like roller coasters. Maybe not several times in a row, but I like them in the long run." Wyatt stretched his arms out in front of him, trying to get a good stretch in his shoulders.

Serena sighed. "I'm so sick of girls. And Chad."

"What?"

"Well, all my friends are either girls... or Chad. But, I don't really connect with any of them these days. Chad only cares about himself and Charmaine is great, but we don't really have the same interests. Like, she hates roller coasters and she's not as into music as I am..." Serena sighed again. She stretched her legs out in front of her and let her head fall onto Wyatt's shoulder. "Maybe someone like you is better suited for me. I've missed having someone I can say anything to." Wyatt didn't say anything. "I'm sorry about everything that's happened... but... I really like having you for my best friend."

Wyatt fiddled with his hands and heaved a sigh._ 'Best friends...Yeah, I can do that.' _He let his head rest on top of hers. "Yeah, me too."

***

Jude pulled his knees to his chest. "Don't do it, dude." The guy on the tv screen slowly lifted his hand to the door knob. "Just leave, dude! Just leave!"

Jonesy chewed on his thumbnail. This movie was way more intense that he'd anticipated. "Listen to Jude, man!"

TV guy yanked the door open. There was nothing there. Jude and Jonesy let out a sigh of relief. A rabid zombie came out of nowhere and mauled the unsuspecting hero. Jonesy clasped his hands over his mouth to hold back a scream. Jude, however, had less discretion and screamed out loud. He threw his arms around Jonesy's neck and hid his face between their torsos. Maybe Wyatt wasn't the one Jonesy should have been worried about.

"Woah, chill, Jude. It's just a movie." Jonesy assured him, pretending he hadn't been horrified as well. Jude didn't let go. "Jude?"

"Oh my gosh, dude. I think I just had a seize." Jude tried to peel his nails out of his friend's shoulder blade, but the adrenaline didn't let him.

"Uh... you mean a seizure."

"Sure. That too." Jude finally got his limbs to obey him and let go of Jonesy's torso. He let himself fall and his head landed in Jonesy's lap. The movie had gone to a scene of five people sitting in a kitchen discussing ways to kill the zombies. It was definitely more tame that the scene before. 'I've got a blowtorch in the shed...' said one of the comrades. Jude rolled his eyes. "They should know that a blowtorch isn't going to do any good. If they're gonna use fire, it needs to be big. Like, epic big."

"Yeah," Jonesy agreed. "I bet the blonde chick ends up saving them all."

"She's kind of a ditz..."

"I dunno, man, chicks are weird." Jonesy absent-mindedly played with Jude's hair. "She probably a genius."

Jude didn't say anything. He really liked the feeling of someone playing with his hair. He closed his eyes. It was really relaxing and Jonesy lap was seriously comfortable. Jude let his mind wander. He liked this: just him and Jonesy hanging out. He didn't have to wory about girls or school or work or anything. He was really lucky to have friends like Jonesy and Wyatt. Really lucky...

"Woah!" Jonesy started. "What do you think you're doing?"

Jude realized he'd been tracing circles on Jonsey's thigh with his finger. He blushed and yanked his hand away. "I wasn't- uh, I didn't realize I- uh- it's- it's your own fault, dude!"

"What? How is it my fault if you decide to feel up my leg?!"

Jude sat up. "I wasn't feeling up your leg! And it's your fault, because you were kinda setting the mood playing with my hair like that."

"Well, you have nice hair! I like it. It's... nice. Besides, you kinda put your head in my lap."

"Well you kinda, uh, you..." Jude was at a loss.

"Exactly. You're just gay, dude." Jonesy crossed one leg and put his hands behind his head. "That's all it is."

"I'm not gay." Jude defended. "Don't start acting like my mom."

"You're mom thinks you're gay?"

"She thinks _about_ it. It's like, just because my best friend from Junior High was, I am too. I mean, we hung out all the time but it's because we were friends, not because we were _together_." Jude rolled his eyes.

"What does she think Caitlin is?"

"A smoke screen."

"Is she?"

"Is who what?"

"Is Caitlin a smoke screen?" Jonesy raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not, dude! I really like Caitlin. More than anybody!" Jude admitted.

"So, you're saying that if a dude kissed you right now, you wouldn't be into it. Not even a little bit."

"I like kissing." Jude relied, as if that explained it all. "Besides, who's to say you aren't gay? Not even a little bit?" Jude held up his thumb and index finger and pushed them together to emphasize his point.

"That's not a real answer." Jonesy argued.

"I don't know what the real answer is!" Jude threw his hands into the air. "I just... don't!"

Jonesy rolled his eyes. "Well, there's only one way to find out." He pushed Jude back onto the bed. Jonesy knelt over his best friend, his hands next to either side of Jude's head. Jude's hip bones stood out slightly against his skin when he tensed his abs in apprehension. Hesitantly, Jonesy let his face come about three inches away from his friend's.

"And I'm the gay one." Jude said.

"Jude, I am going to admit to you that I am a _little_ curious, too." Jonesy said slowly, emphasising his point. "So, why don't we just kill two birds with one stone. Obviously, we find each other at least a little bit attractive, you know, hair-fiddling and leg-feeling and... whatever. But, at the same time, both of us have girlfriends, so obviously we're into chicks..." Jonesy had obviously thought about this before.

"You're not making any sense, bro." Jude couldn't take his eyes off Jonesy's lips. I mean, they were right there. What if... his mother was right? Was if he really was gay or bi or something? But he really liked Caitlin...

"I'm saying we date. Nothing serious or anything, just to, you know, see what it's like.... dating dudes. At least then we'll both be sure one way or the other, right? What's the worst that could happen?"

"In the movies, saying that makes everything bad happen." Jude mused.

"This isn't the movies, Jude." Jonesy stated, matter-of-factly.

Jude smirked. Without warning, he grabbed Jonesy's face and kissed him full on the lips. It was weird and foreign... but also a little bit exciting. Definitely something new. "You're right, dude. Sometimes you gotta try something before you know how you feel about it. Like sushi."

"I'd say this is a little more important than sushi, but I see where you're coming from. Let's do it."

"Woah! Hold up there, bro. I say I'd date you, not fu-" Jonesy had put a hand over his mouth.

"That's not what I meant, get you're mind out of the gutter." Jonesy sighed in exasperation. "So, it's settled then. We'll see what it's like."

Jude pushed Jonesy's hand out of the way. "Yeah. Nothing serious though, I mean, there's still Caitlin and Nikki to think about..."

"Absolutely. Nothing serious." Jonesy agreed.

"Cool."

Awkward silence. I very intense, very long awkward silence.

"So, I kinda want to know what happened in the movie..." Jude admitted.

"I'll rewind it!" Jonesy leapt to do something useful other than pin his best friend to a bed.

"I'll get drinks!" Jude said, grateful for the distraction as well..

"I'll... I'll... I'll do something productive." Jonesy said again.

"Thanks!" Jude ran down the stairs to the Garcia kitchen. As he opened the fridge, he felt his phone vibrate. He flipped it open. **'Get me a root beer, please. -Jonesy'** Jude decided that sounded good and grabbed two out of the fridge. On his way back up stairs, his phone went off again. _'Dude, did he seriously change his mind already? I really don't want to go back downstairs...' _Jude pulled out his phone again. A text from Caitlin this time. '**I'm going to bed. Nikki and Jen say hi. See you tomorrow! 3 -Cai****tlin' **Jude felt a stab of guilt. Was this thing with Jonesy really okay? He looked up at the bedroom door. Jude was really into Caitlin, but he had to figure this out. All of these things he'd been wondering about? He wanted to know the truth. Caitlin should understand. Besides, Jonesy had Nikki and if he thought it was okay, then it probably was. He'd dated way more girls than Jude had, at least. Jude typed out a reply. **'See you then. Goodnight! :) -Jude' **

Jude went up the stairs two at a time, wondering subconsciously how cool in would be to grind down them. He tossed the can to Jonesy as he opened the door.

"Thanks, man." Jonesy had already found their place in the film. Jude flopped down next to him and crossed his legs. Jonesy hit play and the movie ran like nothing had happened. Jonesy had started it over at the kitchen scene. The afore mentioned blonde girl and a muscular looking brunette guy held hands beneath the table, winking at each other when the rest of the group wasn't looking. Jonesy felt something nudge against his hand. Jude was trying to be discrete. Jonesy made a move to take it but couldn't quite get it right. He was used to Nikki's small, feminine hand. Jude's felt clumsy and wide. After a few seconds of fumbling, they were finally able to line themselves up so that their fingers laced.

Jude nodded in satisfaction. "Nailed it."

They sat in silence for a moment before exploding in laughter. "You're-ha ha- you're so bad at it, dude." Jonesy complained.

"Yeah, like you know what you're doing." Jude replied. He tow looked at each other, still laughing. Maybe this would work out after all.

***

Sorry if the last scene feels kind of rushed. I really didn't know how to write it. Anyway, that's the surprise pairing I was talking about. Don't worry, I won't make the guys break up with their girls. That where the drama comes in. ;) So, now that the weirdness has arrived, what do you think?

EDIT: I went through and fixed all the spelling errors. The spellcheck on my comp didn't work but I just realized that there is one on here. There should be one of those less-than-three hearts in Caitlin's text message, but FFN won't let me do it. :(


	4. I Win, You Blinked

Nikki heard a song playing in the distance followed by the weight of the bed shifting. She could vaguely sense the weight of Caitlin's arm across her shoulder blades. Something, probably a cell phone, was digging into her hipbone as she lay face down on Caitlin's mattress. There was a shuffling across the room followed by the sound of a sticky note being torn from it's pad. A slight pressure on her forehead, then nothing. Silence filled the room and Nikki fell back into sleep.

***

Jen walked through the front doors of the Penalty Box. She waved to Coach Halder, who was behind the counter opening the register.

"Morning, Masterson!" he called. Jen smiled. He seemed much happier today. They must have reached the downward slope of his crisis. She pushed through the door of the Employee Locker Room (what most stores would refer to as the employee lounge (it was more of a washroom)) and set her bag on the counter. After a quick glance around she quickly changed into her referee shirt. No one ever came into the Locker Room this early anyway, so what did it matter if she changed in the open? She pulled out the bottle of pills and swallowed two.

'Just in case.' Jen assured herself. Who knew how stressful he day would be? She'd read the label carefully. The front had been torn off so that the product name was missing ('For my mom's records,' Nikki had said.) but the safety warnings and directions had remained intact. 'Okay, Jen. Get out there and show 'em that you're the best darn employee out there.' It was the exact same pep talk she gave herself every morning she had to work. She used it before her snowboarding events too, except she changed 'employee' to 'snowboarder'. Jen prepared herself for the possibility of one of Halder's mood swings and stepped out onto the sales floor. She tossed her bag beneath the check out counter and decided she would make today a good day no matter what.

"Masterson!!"

No matter what.

***

Jude lay in his bed, for the most part unconscious. Jude liked sleeping. A small part of it was laziness, but another part was the fact that he didn't have to worry about anything when he slept. It was safe and relaxing and a way to escape the ridiculousness of the real world. Besides, he hadn't had a nightmare in nine years. Suddenly, Jude's cell phone went off in his ear. He jumped awake and immediately went to cover his eyes from the sunlight coming in through his window. _'Too bright...'_Jude pulled the blankets over his head and snuggled towards the center of the mattress. His mind wandered to the night before. Another ring from the phone. He felt kinda anxious about this thing with Jonesy. It felt so foreign. The same way that Caitlin was different from Starr, Jonesy was different from Caitlin. But, he was also pretty excited. Another ring. He wanted to know where it lead to, wherever that was. Jude tried to fall back asleep. Another ring. Jude groaned and answered the phone.

"What, dude?"

"Jude! You were supposed to be here a half hour ago! Where are you, man?!" Wayne's voice yelled through the phone.

"One sec..." Jude rolled over and checked the clock by his bed. 9:30. Work started at 9. Yeah, that was about thirty minutes. "You're right. It's about thirty minutes." Jude hoped Wayne would be impressed with his early-morning math skills. At least, _Jude_ considered it early morning.

Wayne groaned in frustration. "Look, get here by ten and you can keep your job." Wayne hung up without another word. Jude tried to figure out how long he could stay in bed so that he'd get there at exactly ten. Five minutes to get dressed, ten to get to the mall, breakfast could wait, another five to get to Underground video... Jude sighed. He might as well get up now. Maybe he could hang out with Caitlin for a while if he got there early. He rolled out of the bed and hit the floor with a thud. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His ceiling stared back at him. It was still covered with glow-in-the-dark stars from when he was little. When they were young, Jonesy and Wyatt would stay over and the three of them would spend hours staring up at the ceiling and talking about everything from girls to hockey to the day they would get their drivers licenses all the way back to girls. As they got older, there was more talk about girls and less talk about hockey. He stretched and felt his back pop back into place. Jude popped his back so much, that these days it just did it on it's own. He was actually beginning to get concerned.

Jude hopped up and glanced at the thermometer suction cupped to his window. Fifty-eight degrees. It was a fairly nippy day. He grabbed a pair of long dark jeans off of his floor and pulled them on. Add a belt. He snagged up a green long-sleeved shirt and slipped into it as well. His hat was waiting for him on the doorknob. Jude left his room and slid down the banister while he sent Wayne a quick text that he was indeed on his way. "I'm going to work, mom."

Mrs. Lizowski threw an apple at his head just as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Don't leave without breakfast." Jude caught it as he jumped off the railing. "And try not to slide down the stairs that way, no matter how tempting it is."

"I'll try, but I won't promise anything." Jude took a bite out of his apple.

Jude's mother smiled. "I wouldn't ask anymore from you." Her beeper went off and she sighed as she checked it. "Well, I'm off to the hospital." Jude's mom worked in the psychiatric ward at the local hospital. Sometimes, she'd get a call from the office when a patient took a turn for the worse. Today, Jude figured it was either the girl who liked to eat her own hair or the man who thought he'd been abducted by Elvis. Some people would find that sort of thing funny, but after hearing about all the horrible things that could cause that kind of issue, Jude only found it sad. He watched his mom pull on her coat. She turned to face him. "Didn't you say you were going to work?"

Jude sighed. He may as well.

***

Nikki could hear people talking downstairs. She sat up in Caitlin's bed, the comforter falling away from her shoulders, taking one of the straps of her black tank top with it. The top of her vision was cut off by a large, lime green block. She reached up to examine the obstruction and discovered that it was a sticky note. With instructions written on it. On her face. From Jen. **'Nikki and Caitlin-'** it read '**I set the alarm for twelve in case you don't wake up by then. Caitlin has work at one. Nikki, don't forget that-' **it continued on the back **'you need to pick up your paycheck. It's Saturday. -Jen'** Classic Jen. Worrying about everybody else so that they didn't have to worry themselves. Nikki carefully folded the note in half, sure to line up the corners evenly, and tossed it on Caitlin's bedside table. She cautiously stepped off the bed and padded in her bare feet across the shag carpet. The smell of pancakes drifted through the hallway. Nikki stepped into the kitchen. Caitlin stood over the stove, a radio on the table discussing the pros and cons of diet soda. Well, that explained the voices Nikki had heard earlier. She turned her attention to Caitlin.

"You can cook?" Nikki asked. It was a little scary to think of Caitlin using the stove. Actually, it was a little scary to think of Caitlin handling anything more dangerous than a butter knife. Nikki took a seat behind a long counter in the center of the Cooke kitchen.

"This is about the extent of it. I'm mostly a microwave girl." Caitlin slid a plate of steaming pancakes down the counter. They, amazingly, came to a stop directly in front of Nikki. Caitlin, apparently, had a good judgment of these things.

"So, I wasn't far off." Nikki remarked.

"Not too far." Caitlin sat down beside Nikki with her own stack of pancakes. "Did you see Jen's note?" She shoveled in a mouthful of her breakfast.

"How could a miss it?" Nikki asked. "It was attached to my face."

Caitlin giggled. "That's true." Her cell phone buzzed with a text message. She flipped it open. **'I almost got fired today... again. I may be scarce at the lemon today (I'm trying to get back into Wayne's good graces), so have a good one! -Jude' **Caitlin smiled. He was really a great guy. No one else had ever texted her just to tell her to have a good day.

"Come on, Princess." Nikki had taken both her and Caitlin's empty plates over to the sink. "Let's get a move on." She tossed the blonde her car keys. "I'll be dressed and ready to go in five minutes."

Caitlin glanced at the digital clock on the oven. "Make it three and you've got a deal." Nikki gave her a thumbs up and dashed up the stairs, leaving Caitlin to twiddle her thumbs. The radio DJ was talking about lingerie now._'I think it's really sexy if...' _Caitlin pulled the plug out of the wall. "I'll pass." She sent Jude a reply. It was a little disappointing that she wouldn't see Jude today. But, at least, maybe this way she could actually concentrate on customers for once. When he was around she was always distracted. Caitlin was really falling for him. She'd never been so serious about someone before, probably because she and Jude had been friends for a long time before they had even considered dating. Either way, she--

"Race you to the car!" Nikki had dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen. She didn't pause, but rather bolted toward the front door.

"No fair! You had a head start!" Caitlin rushed after her, she thoughts about Jude evaporating into the thin air around her. She chased her best friend out the door, pausing to lock up behind herself. As she hoped into the front seat, complaining that Nikki I hadn't had a fair win, her butterfly necklace felt cold on her collar bones, like a silent hug from a far off person.

***

"Here." Wayne thrust a rather large bag into Jude's arms. It was filled to the brim with different movies and documentaries. They were separated into stacks by huge rubber bands, which also held a square of paper to them. Jude could make out some names such as 'Khaki Barn' on the slips of paper. "These are all the used videos that businesses from around the mall have staked claims to. Take this to the information desk on the third level, they'll know what to do with it."

"Uh, okay, bro. But, what do these places even want with these? I mean, what's the Penalty Box going to do with March of the Penguins?" Jude raised an eyebrow.

"Ugh, who cares, dude? It's probably because of the upcoming cinema week. Just deliver them. You're on thin ice as it is." Wayne put his hands on his hips. Sometimes, Jude's curious nature really got to him.

"Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going." Jude repositioned his grip on the bag and staggered out of the store. DVDs are heavier than they look. Jude made his way to the elevator--no way was he going to lug them all the way up the stairs. He tried to reach out to press the up button but felt the bag slip a little bit. He sighed and attempted to press the button again, this time with his elbow. A hand appeared out of no where and did it for him.

"Don't hurt yourself." Jonesy advised him.

Jude smiled. "Hey, bro." He nodded his head to the bag. "Look at all the junk Wayne wants me to haul around."

"That sucks. Want some company?" Jonesy offered.

"Most definitely, dude." Jude replied as the elevator arrived. The doors slid open and the two boys slipped in. Jude let the bag rest at his feet. It was getting tiring to just hold it all the time. The two leaned against the wall of the elevator, not saying anything. Real friendship was enjoying each others company without having to say anything. Jonesy wordlessly took Jude's hand. Jude looked at him with concern and glanced at the two glass sides of the elevator. As if reading his best friend's mind, Jonesy pulled their entwined hands behind his back to hide them and winked at Jude as if to say 'See? This way no one will know. Don't freak out.' He knew Jude was worried about Caitlin finding out. Jude smiled and looked at the ground, his hair falling into his face to hide both his eyes and his blush. He sighed and let his head fall on Jonesy's shoulder. "I'm so exhausted, dude. I couldn't sleep last night. I must've gone to bed when the sun came up."

"Couldn't stop thinking about the Jonesmeister, could you? Now you know how the ladies feel." Jonesy wiggled his eyebrows.

"That's not it at all." That was it completely. He'd been so high on emotion (fear, excitement, curiosity, joy, worry, etc.) that he hadn't been able to make himself sleep. Would Caitlin be mad? He probably wouldn't tell her. What if someone else found out, like Wyatt or Jen or Nikki? What was this whole thing anyway? Why did it happen so suddenly? How was he going juggle a boyfriend, a girlfriend, school and work without letting Caitlin know about Jonesy? These are the things that cause sleep deprivation, not caffeine. The elevator dinged as it reached the top floor. Jude heaved a sigh he didn't want to bother with the stupid delivery anymore. Or let go of Jonesy's hand.

"You want help with that?" Jonesy nudged the offending bag with his foot.

"Nah, I've got it." Jude scooped it up and made his way out of the small elevator. "Come on."

"What's this for anyway?" Jonesy eyed the bag and it's contents.

"It's for cinema week." Jude quoted Wayne.

"Um, what's cinema week?"

"It's this thing where some of the stores in the mall each show a movie in their store after closing to give the place a good rep and attract customers. They like to get indie films from Underground. It goes on for about a week. Every place does a different movie each night than the other places." Jude replied on autopilot. Customers asked him this question a lot, usually while waving a flier for the event in his face.

"Sounds pretty cool." Jonesy mused.

"It sucks to work at Underground during it. I have to do this kind of crap a lot." Jude hoisted the bag of films onto the information desk counter. A cute red head sat behind the desk.

"Well, well, what's a cutie like you doing in this side of the mall?" she asked running a hand through her hair.

"Just dropping this stuff off. Wayne from Underground said you'd know what to do with it." Jude replied, completely oblivious to the fact that she as hitting on him.

"Oh, well, I'll be sure it gets were it needs to go. Don't be a stranger." she winked in a last effort to capture his attention.

"With my luck, I'll have eight more of them for you." Jude waved over his shoulder to her as he left. When they were out of her earshot, Jonesy grabbed his arm.

"Dude, she was totally hitting on you. Why didn't you flirt back?" Jonesy looked seriously concerned.

"She was?" Jude thought about it for a second. "Oh yeah! Hey, I guess she was. Oh well, no big deal." Jude said. "I've got enough to worry about with you and Cait. I don't need, or want, anyone else."

Jonesy slowed his pace a bit. Jude didn't want anyone but him (and Caitlin)? That was actually a really sweet sentiment. As they passed a photo booth, Jonesy pulled Jude in.

"Dude! What are you-" he was cut off by Jonesy's lips. Jonesy cupped his cheek and Jude could feel Jonesy's smile against his lips. He pulled back. Jonesy hand his hands in Jude's shirt. He was a smooth operator, Jude would give him that much. Jude chuckled when Jonesy brushed his ribs. They were his most ticklish spot. Jonesy was kissing his neck now. Their legs, which had entangled themselves inside the booth, were, combined, almost too long to fit into the booth. Jude wondered what someone would say if they walked in on them right now. He grinned at the thought. It would be pretty hilarious. He planted a kiss on Jonesy's cheek. "Easy, dude. I don't want a hickey or anything."

"Ugh, hickeys are gross." Jonesy agreed. "That not what I'm going for." Jude wrapped his arms around him. Jonesy smelled good. Really good. Jude wasn't really into wearing cologne himself, but he loved the way perfume smelled on girls. Caitlin's smelled like fresh flowers. Jonesy smelled like musk and some airy, fabricy smell Jude couldn't quite put his finger on. He kissed him again. It was kind of nice to be able to be so close with someone who knew him the way Jonesy did. Jonesy was the only person other than Wyatt who knew him inside and out and didn't care about all the bad things that had happened or what he'd done. And vise versa. Jude's phone rang.

"No way, dude!" He slammed his fist against the wall of the booth. Why did they have to call now, when they were just getting into it? This sort of thing always happened to him. Jude answered it. "Hello?... Yeah, why?... No, the chick wouldn't let me leave, she had all kinds of questions... thanks, man... back in fifteen." He snapped it shut and turned to Jonesy. "That was Wayne. He wanted to know why I wasn't back yet."

"He's really on your case today, huh?" Jonesy was kinda ticked that they'd been interrupted. It had been so perfect.

"Eh, I don't really blame him. I _was _an hour late today." Jude didn't want to blame Wayne for his mistakes. It just felt... slimy.

"True enough..." There was some silence. "I guess you need to get back, don't you?"

"Well, I have a little bit of time. I mean, Wayne gave me a quick break." He felt a bit guilty about lying to Wayne about the Information girl holding him up, but what was he _supposed_ to say? _'Sorry, Wayne, I'm kinda busy making out with my best guy friend so it's taking me a little while to get back to work.'_Not likely. Jude took Jonesy's hand and placed their palms together. They were almost the same size. Jonesy's fingers were barely longer than his own.

"I win." Jonesy said. He moved close to Jude's face like he was going to kiss him. Jude smirked and closed his eyes. When he didn't feel anything after a few moments he opened his eyes. Jonesy was standing outside the booth grinning at him.

"What's up with that?" Jude asked.

"What? I'm the winner. Why should _you_ get a prize?" He flashed a smile to show that he was only messing around, turned and started towards the elevator. Jude sat in disbelief. "Are you coming or what? I may not be a pro at keeping my own job, but I should at least help you keep yours."

Jude followed. "That was cold."

Jonesy sighed heavily. "It's only temporary, right?" He had a sad look flash across his face. "We don't need to get too involved. It's just to get everything figured out." When Jonesy turned to face Jude, his sad look was gone and he only had a smile ready for his friend. "Elevators here."

"Yeah..." Jude and Jonesy leaned on either side of the elevator this time, watching each other intently, like one would disappear if the other blinked. Jonesy winked. Jude was still there. Jude winked. Jonesy was still there. The doors reopened on the ground floor.

"There you are." Nikki waved to the two as they stepped out onto the tile floor of the mall. "I was looking for you. Let's catch a movie before my shift." She linked her arm into Jonesy's and turned to Jude. "Caitlin said you almost got fired again. Don't let yourself turn into this loser." She playfully punched Jonesy arm. Jude nodded as he tried to contain a sneeze. He lost it and let out a powerful sneeze that caused him to double over. When he looked up, Nikki was gone, Jonesy gone with her. Jude came to the realization that he had blinked.

***

Sorry this took so long to update. The semester is in full swing and school plus my social life is not being kind to me time-wise. I've only been able to write a little every day. I'll try to speed up the next update if I can. Thank you for all the reviews! They make me really happy. I'm going to try to focus on Jen a bit more in the next chapter. I fell like I've neglected her a bit in this whole thing. But I have a plot for her, so no worries.


	5. Stargaze

It had been one week. One week since Jude had kissed Jonesy. One week since Nikki had started wearing her ring on a chain. One week since Wyatt and Serena had found friendship in no man's land. One week since Caitlin had realized she was in love with Jude. And one week since Jen had taken the first stress pill.

["So quick, bright things come to confusion." -A Midsummer Nights Dream, Act I, Scene 1]

***

Jen checked her eyeliner in the Masterson-Garcia upstairs bathroom and hitched up her loose white skirt. It had fit last week, but now it was beginning to hang off of her hips somewhat. When Jen looked in the mirror, she noticed that she looked somewhat different. Her jaw was more defined. Her hips had become more narrow and her collar bones were slightly more pronounced. She figured that her recent loss of appetite was the culprit. She had a sneaky suspicion that the stress pills she'd been taking were killing her appetite. She barely ate anything these days. For health's sake, she forced herself to eat three meals a day, however difficult.

Amazingly, she'd been getting a lot of attention because of it. She'd been hit on twice that week during one of her shifts at the Penalty Box. Sadly, they'd been lame one-liner pick-up lines, so Jen had discarded them as frivolous incidents. Her mother had asked her if she was eating properly (she was). Even Jonesy, who barely noticed anything you didn't shove in his face, had commented that she was looking "particularly hot" this week. 'Flattery won't save you from doing the dishes, Casanova.' she had told him. But, was it really that noticeable? She turned to the side. It was a little bit. Deep down, Jen liked the attention. She was so used to being Jen-Who-Struggles-to-Get-Dates, that it felt nice to be Jen-Who-Is-Hot. She winked at her reflection and smiled. Yeah, it felt really nice.

***

Wyatt stuck his phone and car keys into his pockets as he abandoned his car in the mall parking lot (after being sure to lock it, of course). He whistled one of his favorite tunes as her pushed through the large front doors of the mall. He didn't have to work today, which had put him into a splendid mood. The cold air conditioning of the indoors blasted his face and arms as it tried to escape into the promising sunshine outside. Serena waved to him as he passed by the entrance of Spin This. He waved back and shot her the "call me" motion, his pinky and thumb making a decent impersonation of a cell phone. He spotted his friends at the Lemon. Jude, Jonesy, and Nikki sat around their table while Caitlin stood behind the Lemon counter speaking animatedly and waving her arms frantically. She always was one to talk with her hands. As Wyatt neared, he began to make out what she was saying.

"Out of... but I... all weekend!... And... So excited!" Caitlin smiled as she placed her hands palm down on the counter. "What do you say?"

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Nikki approved. Jude and Jonesy were quick to agree.

"What's a lot of fun?" Wyatt asked, pulling up a chair to the gang's favorite spot.

Caitlin turned to him, obviously pleased to repeat what she'd just accounted to everyone else. "My parents are out of town and they said that as long as I promise nothing will get damaged, I can have you guys stay over the entire weekend!"

"Wow. I thought you're parents were super strict." Wyatt replied. He really wanted a coffee right now.

"They are, but I think they're realizing that I'm more responsible than I used to be." Caitlin grabbed a rag from beneath the blender and began to wipe the counter. "It's pretty convenient."

"Seems like it." Wyatt replied. A cappuccino with a shot of espresso sounded amazing. He glanced around. "Where's Jen?"

Nikki tucked a loose strand of hair behind her hair. "I'm not sure, but I really need to talk to h-"

"Right here!" Jen stepped up to the table and crossed her arms across her chest. She looked really energetic. Shaky almost, like she _had_ to do something or it was going to drive her crazy. It reminded Wyatt of a caffeine high... he really needed some coffee. "Halder booked too many people to work today, so I get a free day!"

"Sweet!" Jude said.

"Jen! I've got to talk to you!" Nikki grabbed her friends hand and pulled her off to the side of the lemon. She spun around and placed a hand on each of Jen's shoulders. "Jen, you have to stop taking those pills I gave you. I grabbed the wrong bottle. It turns out that I gave you diet pills instead of stress relievers. Has anything weird happened to you?"

_'Just rapid weight loss.' _Jen thought to herself. "No, I'm perfectly fine. I've just had more energy, that's all."

Nikki breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I would have never forgiven myself if anything really terrible had happened to you."

"Don't freak out, I'm fine. Do you... uh, need them back?" Even though they were diet pills, Jen actually liked taking them. The gave her a boost of energy and morale. Besides, this certainly explained the excess energy and loss of appetite. But, a small, minuscule part of her didn't want to stop. Was that bad?

"No, you can just throw them away. That was left over from my mom's last weight loss kick. She's over it now."

"Will do." Jen didn't know if she actually would do. She should. She would. She definitely would. Those things were dangerous. She'd been lucky this time.

The two returned to the Lemon where everyone one (sans Wyatt: "_Where's Wyatt?" "Coffee run." "Oh, okay." "You know, Where's Wyatt sounds like a kids book where you would have to find the caffeine addict in a crowd of people." "Shut up, Jonesy."_) was talking about the upcoming weekend. Plans formed, Wyatt returned, plans were edited, plans were finalized, and everyone went their own way, excepting Nikki and Jonesy who went together. Nikki skipped a little as they walked.

"What's with you? You're like a kid playing hopscotch." Jonesy asked.

Nikki thought better than to tell him that she actually had been playing hopscotch with the floor tiles as they went. "Nothing. I'm just happy."

"Really now? And why are so happy?" Jonesy stopped walking, causing Nikki to stop too. Freedom to roam was something one had to sacrifice when choosing to hold hands with someone else.

_'Because I love you.'_ Nikki thought. She looked up at Jonesy. He was really tall. Like, super tall. And her shortness only made the situation more pronounced. She used all effort she had to stand on her tip-toes and kiss him. "No reason." she said smiling.

Jonesy grinned. "I think I missed that. Tell me again?"

She kissed him again. "I said, no reason."

"Sorry, my hearing's bad today what was that?"

"Don't push it."

***

Jude was the last to arrive. No matter what he did, he always misplaced his car keys when he needed them most. He entered without bothering to knock. He practically lived here. Caitlin and he hung out as often as possible and many times it just ended up being the two of them curled up on her couch watching movies or, if no one was home, making out. Her parents liked him well enough, but it rarely mattered because they were gone on business most of the time. Jude traveled light. He had only brought a toothbrush and a change of clothes with him. He could hear laughter from the Cooke's spacious den. There, he found his friends sitting on the floor around the square coffee table playing a slap card game. Surprisingly, Caitlin's shopping reflexes were showing Jen's sports reflexes who was boss.

"Jude!" Caitlin turned to him, her eyes shining. Jude thought she was adorable. He felt his heart give a little tug. "I'm winning!" SLAP. She took another round.

"It's beginners luck." Jen complained.

"I gave up before we started." Nikki held only one card, her others had been lost at some point in the game. It was her turn. She laid her final card dow-SLAP. It was gone. "See? Pointless."

"Just stick to cynicism. It's what you're good at." Jonesy remarked.

"Watch it!" Nikki heaved the box the cards had come in at his head.

SLAP. "Aw, you made me miss it." Jonesy complained.

"Stick to unemployment. It's what you're good at." she shot back with a wink.

"Touche." Jonesy admitted, returning the wink. SLAP. "Gotcha!"

Jude sat down next to Nikki on the couch. She'd completely given up. Reflex games weren't her forte. She'd rather play a strategy game. Jude yawned and laid his head in her lap. "I'm tired." he mused. "I never get any sleep."

"I can tell." Nikki let Jude nap on her knees. "You should sleep more."

"I think so too." Jude listened to the sound of his friends playing cards, laughing, talking. He was glad they were all friends. If even one person was missing, he would feel ridiculously empty. Jude tended to love people hard. It was a good thing most of the time. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell his friends were smiling when they argued about the game. You can hear someone's smile in their voice. That was why he could always tell when Caitlin had had a bad day even when they were talking over the phone. Her smile wasn't in her voice when she was upset. He heard Jen groan in frustration. _'Get her, Cait.' _He felt a little bad for not being neutral, but a guy has to have his priorities. Someone opened one of his eyes for him.

"I won." Caitlin smiled. She stuck out her tongue and winked. That was the thing about Caitlin. Sometimes, she acted her age. Other times, she was just a little girl.

***

At three in the morning, with Jude's arm around her, Caitlin fell asleep in the middle of Kung Fu Heroes. There are three couches in the Cooke's living room. Around three thirty, Jude made the mistake of going to the bathroom. When he returned, Caitlin and Jen had taken over the couch, and his spot, draped themselves across each other and fallen asleep (or in Caitlin's case, back asleep). Jude looked around, Wyatt was passed out in nothing but a pair of black sweat pants on the second couch, and Jonesy and Nikki were cuddled up on the final one. _'No way I'm getting involved in that.'_ Jude thought. He snagged a blanket and pillow from the floor by Wyatt's feet and made a place from himself on the floor. He glanced around. No one else was awake but he. As quietly as he could, he switched off the TV and listened to the sound of his friends breathing. He could pick each person's breath out of the cacophony. Wyatt had shallow, short breaths that Jude had to strain to hear. Caitlin's were long and heavy, but still feminine in their own way. Nikki's were for the most part inaudible, except for a restless grunt or sigh in reaction to her dreams. Jen gave a near-silent girly sigh on her exhales. Jonesy snored. Not loudly, but enough to be a little bit annoying. Jude shook his head. It was just like Jonesy to be louder than everyone else, even when he was asleep. Wyatt's phone buzzed on the table. **'Serena!'** it proclaimed. Jude wondered why she'd be texting him at four in the morning, but decided it wasn't his business. Jude picked up his own cell phone. 4:01. Why couldn't he sleep? He flopped himself onto his pillow. It was getting annoying. Jude couldn't get himself to sleep until around dawn lately, which caused him to get only about three of four hours of sleep a night. He could barely function. But he didn't tell anyone about it. Not in detail, anyway. He didn't want anyone to worry, especially not Caitlin. Jude sighed. This was ridiculous. He looked at the ceiling. He counted six smudges, probably from those sticky hands that ALL kids got stuck on their ceiling. He tossed. He turned. He lay on his stomach. He lay on his side. He put the pillow over his head. He couldn't breathe. He removed the pillow. He tried to count sheep. He counted cows instead. He craved milk. He got up.

The Cooke kitchen was connected to the living room, so Jude was very careful not to make noise. He opened the fridge. The milk was located next to the cottage cheese, above the butter, beneath the cans of soda. Jude poured himself a glass (glasses were beneath the champagne flutes, beside the plastic cups, and above the plate cabinet). The milk made him feel better. When he was little and couldn't sleep, his mother had poured him a glass of milk and told him a story. Now, when he drank milk, he could subconsciously smell him mother's perfume. It was childish, but true. The milk done, Jude rinsed his glass out and placed it in the sink. He do a better job in the morning. Jude tried to slip quietly back into the room. Jonesy caught his eye on the couch. Jonesy's chest rose and fell softly with every breath he took. His lips lingered near the top of Nikki's head. Jude thought about how risky it would be to try to kiss him now. He was considering doing it.

"Pst! Jude!" Jude jumped, but restrained from making any noise. Caitlin had sat up slightly under Jen's weight, which was making whispering difficult for her. "I guess you couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"I had some milk." Jude whispered, like that would explain everything.

"Want some company?" Caitlin asked. Jude nodded sheepishly. Carefully, Caitlin untangled herself from Jen's arms and propped her best friend's head up with a pillow. She gingerly took Jude's hand and led him down the hallway. She raised a finger to her lips and opened the back door, pulling on a black pea coat from the coat hanger in the process. It looked cute in combination with her pink shorts and white shirt. Jude was wearing long sleeves and pants so he neglected his own jacket. "Check it out." Caitlin pointed over her shoulder. Jude looked out to see a garden complete with a gazebo and stone benches in the Cooke's back yard. The staggering evidence of Caitlin's wealth overwhelmed him sometimes. He wondered if he was even good enough for her in the long run once in a while. It was stupid, but a guy has to take everything into consideration. He couldn't imagine her parents wanting them together forever, since he was from a family of "lesser means" aka middle class. But, he'd stay with her as long as he could. Because he loved her. Even if he'd never told her that before.

"Pretty." Jude mused.

"Thanks, my parents liked it." Caitlin explained.

Jude brushed past her and started down the walk. "I wasn't talking about the garden." He turned back and winked, smirking at Caitlin's blush. Even Jude could be a corny romantic. He laced his fingers with hers. Her hands were so small and feminine. He bent down and kissed her. Caitlin could almost hear the wheels in Jude's head turning. "Say..." Jude started. Here it goes. "How stable is the gazebo?"

"Ugh... stable enough... what are you getting at?" Caitlin hoped it wasn't anything too crazy... or dangerous.

"Come on!" Jude pulled her along.

"I guess I'm going with you."

Jude turned to her. "Like you wouldn't come with me just because I'm going." Caitlin didn't respond. He had her there. Wordlessly, Jude swung himself up onto the roof of the white gazebo. It creaked momentarily, then settled back into itself. Jude reached down a hand to Caitlin.

"I'd rather not." Caitlin didn't like the thought of the whole thing collapsing on them.

Jude looked genuinely hurt. "Please? I promise nothing bad will happen." Jude reached his hand a bit farther. "Do you trust me?"

"Well..." Caitlin weighed the pros and cons. The fact that she would be with Jude outweighed all of the cons by a long shot. "Okay." She carefully took his hand and before she knew it, he'd single handedly pulled her onto the top of the great white structure.

"I want to stargaze." Jude told her. He lay on his back and placed his hands behind his head. Out of habit, Caitlin snuggled up next to him. He put an arm around her, the fabric of her coat tickled his skin a little bit. The nice thing about Caitlin was that Jude could teach her things. She didn't already know everything like some people did. "There's Orion." Jude pointed to a line of three stars. "There's his belt, his legs, his arms, and his sword. The star to the upper left of the belt is Betelgeuse and the one to the upper right is Bellatrix."

"When did you pick up all this stuff on stars?" Caitlin lay one her side and put an arm around Jude's waist, pulling him close.

"I like stars. They're really important to me. Like, they remind me of my family because we always used to see who could find the most constellations when I was little. My sister and I ended up getting really close that way. And they remind me of Jonesy and Wyatt, because we used to hang out in my room and look at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. And when I was really _really_ little my grandma would tell me all sorts of stories about things like the Big Dipper and all that. I really miss her when I see them, but it's a good kind of missing, ya know?" Jude gave her a peck on the forehead. "And now, I guess they're gonna remind me of this. You and me, right here."

Caitlin turned on her stomach and propped her weight up on her elbows, so that she was looking into Jude's eyes. Was she really important enough to be a part of all those beautiful memories? Did she really compare? "I love you, Jude." Caitlin said. There. She'd said it. She'd been thinking it for a long time, but now she'd gone right out and told him. Jude chuckled. He pulled her as close to him as possible.

"I love you too, Cait." Jude closed his eyes and smiled. Jude had never been in love before. It made him want to dance. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and he fought to keep them open. They fought back. "I'll tell you all about the stars one day." he whispered. Finally, Jude Lizowski fell asleep easily for the first time in weeks.

***

I hope that wasn't too fluffy for anyone. I didn't think so, but I wasn't too sure. Really quickly: I don't own 6teen or anything else and if Kung Fu Heroes is the name of an actual product or production it's purely coincidental. Are we required to do these disclaimers or is it a fad? I only do it to keep myself covered. Sorry I didn't say as much about Jen as I said/thought I would. And poor Wyatt! He was barely there at all. :( Thank you for the reviews guys, they make me really happy. Let me know if I start to slip though okay? You guys are the best!


	6. Shades of Gray

"Wake up, love birds! Breakfast isn't going to eat itself!" Nikki called to the blonde duo on top of the gazebo. Jude and Caitlin groaned simultaneously. Being woken up sucked. Period. Nikki sighed. "Come down when you're conscious." Jude and Caitlin could hear the crunch of her footsteps in the leaves. Caitlin was the first to (reluctantly) make a move to get up.

"Come on." she said, propping her weight up on her elbows. "Let's go."

"I don't wanna." Jude replied. He sounded about five years old. Caitlin shook her head. She wrapped her arms around his torso and attempted to pull him to the edge of the roof. "I'm playing dead weight." Jude said, implying she should just give up.

Caitlin shrugged it off. "I'm stronger than I look." After much grunting and straining, she was finally able to drag her boyfriend across the top of the wide white structure. Jude's head loomed over the edge. "Wake up or I'll push you."

"You wouldn't." Jude dared her. Caitlin pushed him a bit closer to the edge. His left arm slipped off the side. "Okay, okay, you would!" Jude sighed and used his left leg to push the rest of his body off the roof. Caitlin watched in horror as he fell in slow motion, hurtling toward the ground. Like a cat, Jude's feet easily found their place beneath him as he neared the ground. With a thump, Jude landed on his feet, unscathed. Caitlin let out all her breath. She had been so sure he was going to get himself killed.

"Are you crazy?!" she called to him.

"Skateboarding gives you a good sense of up versus down. I know what I'm doing." Jude said matter-of-factly.

Caitlin rolled her eyes and lowered to herself as gently and gracefully as a dancer. "Just don't scare me like that."

Jude chuckled. "Okay."

The two walked into the kitchen hand in hand. There lay before them a picture of pure teenage nature. Wyatt sat at the table, still shirtless, with his laptop playing David Usher tunes as he surfed the web for deals on guitar strings. Jen was sitting on the table itself, sipping a cup of Oolong tea (one sugar), legs crossed, commenting on the importance of political awareness. Jonesy and Nikki stood in front of the stove, making pancakes.

"_You've got a text message, sexy beast!" _Jonesy's phone chirped from the table.

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Arrogance in all respects."

Wyatt leaned over Jonesy's shoulder. "Who's it from?"

"Oh no…" Jonesy groaned.

"What dude?" Jude had made himself comfortable on the tabletop next to Jen.

"It's from Darth…"

"What's so bad about Darth?" Jen asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"It's not Darth, it's what he's texted me about." He looked at Jude and Wyatt with a grave expression. "He asked me about the Government project… it's… due tomorrow."

"No way, it's not due until the 19th!" Wyatt protested.

Jen sipped again. "Um, hello?! Today's the 18th."

"Du-ude." Jude said morosely.

Wyatt sighed. "Aw man. I guess we'll have to do it this afternoon."

"The hockey game's on tonight." Jonesy frowned.

"Extreme BMX is going on at the park." Jude looked forlorn.

"Guys, if you fail that class, your parents aren't letting you out of the house ever again." Caitlin reasoned. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

The boys exchanged glances. "She's right." Wyatt stated.

Jude and Jonesy sighed in unison. "Fine."

"What do we have to do?" Jude asked.

"Make a 3D model of the Canadian government system… and write a report about it." Wyatt sighed.

"Fantastic." Jonesy sank into one of the kitchen chairs.

Wyatt's phone announced a text message. He flipped the phone open, furrowed his brow, and stood up. "I've gotta go. I'll meet you guys at Jonesy's around 1." He looked at Jude and Jonesy sternly as he slipped his laptop into his backpack. "Don't be late." He warned. Wyatt smiled at Caitlin. "Thanks for the weekend Cait. See you tomorrow."

"Right. Calculus. First thing." She recalled as she and Wyatt bumped fists.

"Bye guys." Wyatt called over his shoulder.

"I'm heading out to." Nikki said, standing up. "The Tacky Barn calls…"

"Oh, I know. It calls me too sometimes." Caitlin mused.

"Trust me, Princess." Nikki said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It calls us in two completely different tones of voice."

***

Nikki took a deep breath and pushed the envelope into the mailbox on the corner. There. She'd done it. Around the time Jude and Caitlin had slipped out the backdoor, she'd slipped upstairs to Caitlin's room and made good use of her desk. There, she'd written a letter to Banting University accepting the place they'd saved for her in the Class of 2012. Today was the postmark deadline. She'd used every day between now and the day she'd gotten her acceptance letter to make her decision. She knew it was the best college offer she'd ever get, but she'd have to be far away from her family as well as Jonesy. She'd needed a long time to finally decide that if she and Jonesy were meant to be together, a long distance relationship wouldn't kill them. There was no going back now: the letter was in the mail. She was going to Banting. Hopefully, her decision wouldn't destroy her relationship with Jonesy. Hopefully, absence truly made the heart grow fonder.

***

"We should probably stop, dude. Wyatt's going to be here soon." Jude made an effort to move Jonesy's mouth off of his neck. Jude couldn't tell if he was trying to stop Jonesy because he was actually concerned about Wyatt catching them or because he couldn't get Caitlin out of his head.

"Whatever, Wyatt's so spaced out these days he probably won't even show up."

"True…" Jude kissed him, slipping his hands under his shirt to feel the soft skin of his back. It was hard for him, for whatever reason, to resist Jonesy. Jonesy pushed him back on the couch, trailing kisses up and down Jude's collar bones.

"Um, no. Actually, I'm right on time." Wyatt said from behind them.

Jonesy swore, embarrassed.

"I told you so, Dude." Jude scolded.

Jonesy switched into damage control mode. "You can't tell anyone!" His eyes bore into Wyatt, who only rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't goi-"

Jonesy leapt off the couch and was at Wyatt's side in no time. "I said, you can't tell anyone." Jonesy grabbed Wyatt's shoulders.

"Jonesy…" Jude trailed off.

"And_ I_ said that I wouldn't." Wyatt reached up and pried Jonesy's fingers out of his skin. "But maybe you should tell me what's going on."

At that moment, Jonesy's phone rang. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and checked the screen. "Perfect. Listen, that's my dad. Jude, take over."

"But-" Jude began.

"Just tell him." Jonesy instructed and slipped out the door.

"Yes, please tell me, Jude. Why are you and Jonesy fooling around behind_ both_ you're your girlfriend's backs?" Wyatt crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow in expectation.

Jude heaved a sigh and ran both of his hands through his messy blonde hair. "It's like this…"

***

Caitlin held her pencil between her teeth, grumbling to herself. Angles sucked. She could do any math in the world, but angles. Toss a logarithm her way? No problem. Ask her to solve an equation for the graph of a spiral? Sure thing. But angles? No way. She could barely grasp the concept of all those triangles, let alone add angles to them. She dropped her head onto the table and muffled a scream. Why even bother?

'_I'd rather be with Jude…'_ Caitlin thought to herself. She pulled out her phone to text him, then promptly put it down. He and the guys were working on that project, and knowing them they'd take all afternoon to finish, especially when you accounted for the fact that, now, all of their attention deficit issues would be combined. Oh well… She smiled to herself. At least she and Jude were in love. Hopefully, he wasn't too ADD to forget.

***

Jen kicked the pills off of the bed into her wastebasket. She didn't need them. If she wanted to keep her weight down, she could. Eating healthy, exercising. It wasn't so hard. The last thing she needed was an addiction to ephedrine. She rolled onto her back and sighed. She placed a hand on her stomach. She could feel the slight edge of her hip bone. She mused to herself that she needed to buy some new clothes... in a smaller size. She'd never had to do that before. Secretly, it made Jen feel powerful, like she was in control. Work was spinning out of control. Jude and Jonesy were acting skittish. Nikki was trying to come to terms with the intensity of her feelings for Jonesy. Caitlin was the happiest she'd been in months. Wyatt was being aloof and disappearing often. Jen couldn't grasp anyone or anything anymore. When she tried to get handle on a situation it seemed to slip right through her fingers. At least this was something she could regulate, something she could get her hands on. Her phone buzzed. It was a text message.

**'Dinner downstairs. Dad told me to order pizza.' -Jonesy**

**'I'm not hungry. Don't save me any.' -Jen**

She rolled over to face the wall. Her poster of Dawgtoy stared back, Jason winking at her. Jen didn't need dinner. Just because it was expected to eat a meal at night, didn't mean she had to. Jen's eating habits were her own. She decided if she was going to eat. Her stomach gave a low rumble. Or if she wasn't. She took an animal cracker out of a plastic bag on her bedside table. Just one. Just to stop the growling for a while. What did it matter, anyway?

***

Jude and Wyatt lay in the middle of Jonesy's living room facing each other.

"Jude, that's… intense." It wasn't quite to the word for it, but at that moment it was all Wyatt could think of. Jonesy had been 'on the phone' for a half hour or so. Wyatt and Jude secretly knew he was just afraid of confrontation. He'd probably had a two minute conversation with his father and then gone to hide out in the kitchen while Jude did the dirty work.

"Trust me, dude, I know."

"And Nikki and Caitlin are clueless?"

"Hopefully. Caitlin is for sure, but you never know with Nikki… or Jonesy's ability to keep secrets."

"Non-existent." Wyatt noted.

"Like decency in a strip club." Jude agreed.

Jonesy pushed his way into the room, two pizza boxes in hand. "Who's in a strip club?' Wyatt and Jude only laughed. "So… you're in the know then?" Jonesy asked Wyatt.

"I'd say so… I just don't know what _else_ to say." Wyatt took a slice of Hawaiian. "I really don't. I feel like an accomplice."

"To what? A crime?" Jonesy said, defensively.

"To the two of you taking lying and cheating to a whole new level."

Jude and Jonesy said nothing. Having it put that way was pretty harsh. Was it really so wrong to do something to figure out who you were, even if you had to tell a few lies and cheat on your girlfriend? That's not the best way to put it either.

Jude spoke up. "I don't want to do anything to hurt Caitlin. But I also don't understand half of who I am. Let alone how I feel about dudes. Even if I have to do something sneaky behind her back, it's better for the both of us. I don't want to have to hurt her later if I suddenly realize 'oh, hey, I'm into dudes.' when she's really, really in love with me. And I don't want to hurt her now by hooking up with Jonesy when she's not around, even if it means I realize I'm not into guys at all. There's no right way to go about it. Now or later? It doesn't matter. Either way, it's possible that I'm going to hurt her. I can't save myself from feeling guilty, but I can try to save her from feeling heartbroken. That's enough for me." Jonesy and Wyatt just stared. "What?" More stares. "What?!"

"You… are more level headed than we give you credit for." Wyatt said, finally.

"What he said." Jonesy agreed.

"Like you haven't thought the same thing about you and Nikki." Jude replied.

"Well, yeah, but never as in depth as that. Honestly, I really don't want to think about it. It'll just make me feel like a jackass."

"I know I'm right." Jude whispered.

Jonesy nodded. "I know. It's not black and white. Only a thousand shades of gray."

Wyatt sighed. "Thousands and thousands of shades of gray."

***

Hey guys! I've finally gotten my laptop and I LOVE IT. This chapter took a while because we've just had Mid-Terms, so I've been studying like a mad-woman. And then my iTunes crashed, so I had to deal with that crisis, too. But the good news is that I have a new chapter up! And someone finally found out the secret. Believe me when I say that I'm working hard to update as often as possible. I just need to juggle a busy life with my writing. Thank you for being so patient! I'll update as soon as possible!


	7. Revolutionary' Blueberries

"Dudes!!!" Jude came running up to the gang's favorite table, where all of his friends were present and accounted for. "Dudes, you are NOT going to believe it!" Jude slapped a flier onto the table, breathing heavily from his mad dash.

"Uh, where's your board, man?" Wyatt asked.

"Not important right now dude, just READ. THE. FLIER." Jude urged, pushing it into his face.

"Fine, fine." Nikki said, snatching the flier out of Jude's hand. "Edmonton Skate Competition Semi-Finals. October 3rd. Public Welcome. Grand Prize: $10,000. Top two competing skaters will advance to the Final round to be held in Vancouver."

"And I qualified!" Jude slammed a hand onto the table, his onto landing on his chest. "There were, like, two hundred other skaters competing in the first round and I landed in the top twenty!" Jude was congratulated by a round of 'All right!'s and 'Way to go, man!'s.

"Why didn't you tell us before?' Caitlin asked from behind the Lemon counter.

"I didn't want to make a big deal about it, then not make it through. I mean, I'd kind of look like an idiot." Jude explained.

"Good luck with that one, man." Jonesy marked.

Jude punched him lightly in the arm. "Shut up, dude."

"You realize we're all going to come watch you now, right?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, we wouldn't miss it." Nikki agreed.

"Dudes, I'd be hurt if you **didn't **come." Jude answered.

"Well then, I'm telling Coach not to schedule me to work on the 3rd." Jen decided.

"While I'm sure the clones will beg me to stay, I'll just have to break it to them." Nikki mused.

"You rock, guys." Jude said, blushing a bit. He didn't know what he would do without his friends. In the end. They were the only people he loved or cared about, despite family. Nothing was more important than them. Absolutely nothing.

"No problem. You know we love you, man. Okay, I'm out. Duty calls." Wyatt said, donning his McFlipster's cap. "Back in three hours for my break."

"Later." Jude waved. "Okay, I've got to go pick up my board from the skate shop. Got brand new skate tape, just for the competition."

"I'll go with you." Jonesy offered. "I need a job application."

"What happened to your job at the sailing place?" Nikki asked.

"Let's just say it involved a life vest malfunction." Jonesy grimaced.

"Ouch." Caitlin commented, cringing.

"Uh, yeah, you think?" Jonesy grabbed Jude's arm. "Let's go."

"Bye Ladies!" Jude called as Jonesy pulled him along. The girls waved in response.

"Okay, is it just me, or are those two really buddy-buddy lately?" Nikki asked.

"I think they're just getting really into Boy's Time. I mean, college is around the corner and the realization of how little time we've got left together is probably getting to them. It's definitely getting to me." Jen replied.

"I think so, too." Caitlin agreed. She was quiet for a moment. "Wow, I don't know what I'm going to do without all of you around after we graduate." She added.

"Hey, just because we're going to college in a few months, doesn't mean we're not going to keep in touch." Nikki argued. "We'll still come home for holidays and call and text and e-mail. No way we're going to do anything stupid like grow apart!"

"Aw, Nikki!" Jen pulled her best friend into a hug.

"Uh…" Nikki wasn't sure how to respond.

"That's so sweet!" Caitlin chirped, hopping over the Lemon counter to join in in the hugging.

Nikki struggled. "Hey, don't get all emotional on me!" No avail. "You guys… just…" She sighed and finally returned their hug, smiling sheepishly. "Idiots."

***

"It's the board with an Angelboy deck, Element wheels, and Independent trucks. Black tape. Wheels are yellow." Jude told the pink-haired girl behind the counter.

"Oh yeah, the vowel board. All you need now is some Osiris shoes and some Understood threads and you'll have the whole set. I'll go get it out of the back." She replied.

Jude silently wondered if it would be cool or lame to write "The Vowel Board" on his deck….

…

It was lame. Jude turned to look at Jonesy, who was having a blast trying to get all the wheels on the Habitat wheel display to spin at the same time. Jude had never felt like he had to find a way to entertain Jonesy, because Jonesy always found a way to entertain himself.

"Ugh! Almost! I'll get you this time!" Jonesy went back to giving the wheels a run for their money. It was a rather large display, so some would stop before he could get the rest going.

Jude turned back to the counter in time to see the pink chick carry his board out. "Ten bucks even."

"Sweet. Thanks, bra." He passed the cash across the counter.

"Thank Joe. He's the one who did it. Plus, he threw in new wheels. Thought your old ones were looking kinda… rough."

"Wow. Tell him thanks for me! Yeah, the old ones were getting pretty unfortunate looking." Jude told her.

"Tell him yourself. The shop's going to set up a tent at the Skate Competition just in case someone needs to make a last minute repair. It'll be good advertising for us, and a stroke of good luck for you skaters." She said, giving one of Jude's wheels a spin.

"I will, then. Catch ya later!" Jude said, waving. He placed a hand on Jonesy's shoulder. "I'm all set, dude."

"Hold on… Almost got it……. Yes! Bam!" The wheels spun simultaneously as Jonesy looked on with pride. He turned to Jude. "Care to uh, 'give it a spin'? I promise it'll be 'revolutionary'." Jonesy was obviously pleased with his ability to make puns.

"Some other time, dude." Jude said. "I want to try out these new wheels."

"Or we could hang out." Jonesy winked, implying they wouldn't just hang out.

Jude weighed the options. "How about we hang out and walk around the mall so I can try out my board. Two birds with one stone!" Jude liked to pretend he didn't get Jonesy's implications. He enjoyed messing with his head.

"Okay… or we could 'chill'." Jonesy used air quotes this time and raised an eyebrow for good measure.

"I know… we're going to tour the mall… I don't see the issue here." Jude worked to keep himself from grinning. Jonesy was looking distressed.

Jonesy sighed. "Nevermind."

Jude chuckled. Secretly, he thought it was cute when Jonesy got frustrated. Score one for Jude.

***

Jen calculated her calorie intake as she restocked the badminton racquets. _'100 for the slice of bread, 80 for the egg…. At least 200 for that slice of pizza… 380... That's a lot. I should eat fruit instead. Keep myself healthy…' _

She'd been working hard to eat only 700 calories a day. She figured that with all the snowboarding practice she did after school, she'd easily burn them off. Plus, all the running around she had to do for her job was a major plus.

"I don't see you working on those racquets, Masterson!" Jen hadn't realize she'd stopped working.

"Sorry, Coach! I'm on it!" Jen replied.

"Head in the game, Masterson! I catch you lollygagging again and it's 10 in the Penalty Box!" he yelled.

Jen sighed. "Yes, Coach…" She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Jen glanced over her shoulder to make sure Coach Halder wasn't watching. Gingerly, she slid her phone out. Jen loved getting text messages. They made her feel important and loved.

'_Just had three old crones that I don't even know congratulate me and lecture me on the joys of married life. Help! -Nikki'_

While Jen had expected the situation surrounding Jonesy and Nikki's recent "engagement" to die down over the week end, it hadn't. If anything, it had spread far wider than she had expected. Especially since the elderly barely heard anything, let alone gossip.

'_I'm on it.' _Jen typed out with one hand while the other continued to appear as if it were working. Jen put away her phone. Her stomach growled again. _'Shut UP already!' _Jen thought to herself. "Coach, I'm going on a break. I'll be back soon."

"You've only just started working, Masterson!" Coach Halder informed her.

"Actually, I've been going since nine and it's far past noon." Jen explained. Halder could find no argument for his case, so he nobly folded and declared that she was putting his business in jeopardy of being sued by working so much and why didn't she take an hour off? Ever since one of the food court shops had gotten fined for child labor law infringement, Halder wasn't going to take any chances. "Thanks, Coach. Don't mind if I do."

'_The Lemon in ten.' _she texted Nikki. Jen figured a good vent and a new nose ring would cheer her best friend up.

'_Nikki needs retail therapy.-Jen' _This one went to Caitlin, who sent back six smiley faces and a less-than-three heart. Jen took it as a yes. With Caitlin, shopping was always a yes. Jen's stomach growled audibly this time. She rolled her eyes and sent Caitlin another message. _'Please grab me one of the LOW FAT lemon muffins from the Big Squeeze!' _Jen figured she could always burn off the excess calories in the gym. Besides, Low Fat couldn't be too detrimental to her plan. She'd hoped to lose 5 pounds by the end of the week. There was a pair of adorable jeans at Albatross & Finch that would look amazing on her… and would look even better if she were a bit more lithe. Another message.

'_Got you covered! With blueberries, too. ;)-Caitlin' _Jen sighed. She did like blueberries…

***

Hey guys! Sorry I've been so MIA lately. But I've got all my college stuff settled now, so I should be good to go until classes start. Thank you for being so patient. I'm doing my best! :D I know this chapter is shorter than the rest. I'm doing the Competition in the next one, so it'll be longer.


	8. Dude, I Just Want to Eat

The set up was huge. There were at least 20 different half pipes, 10 unnecessarily huge ramps and more rails than you could count placed randomly in various spots around the skate set up. Jude's eyes grew wide with awe and sheer happiness. He could probably ride here all day and not even get to try everything! Aside from the trick area, there were roughly 30 different tents lining the outskirts of the park. Some for gear, some for spare parts, and two for repair (one housing Joe from the Galleria skate shop, and another from an obscure shop from out of town). There were six that sported gold tarps overhead instead of the classic blue. Jude knew intuitively that these were scouts from different skate companies and troupes looking for young talent. Jude gulped. He hadn't expected an audience aside from the judges and spectators. Was it too late to feign injury? Could he find someone willing to push him down a flight of stairs?

Wyatt and Jonesy each slung an arm over Jude's shoulders.

"You ready?" Wyatt said into his left ear.

"No turning back now." Jonesy agreed from the right.

Jude sighed. They were right. He was here because he wanted to be, not because he had to impress the scouts. He just wanted to have a blast skating today. Jude turned to face his gang of friends. "Definitely!" Jude grinned and gave them a thumbs up. "I'm going to rock today, dudes. Just watch!"

"_**Group A Competition will start in 15 minutes. All Group A contestants report to the center ramp for instructions." **_

"Is that you?" Caitlin asked. The competition had accumulated around 80 finalists from around the region, so to keep from confusion, they had been divided into four Groups named oh-so-creatively Groups A, B, C, and D.

"Nah, I'm in Group C." He motioned to the number pinned to his shirt. It had the number 46 and a small C in the bottom left corner. "Hey, I need to go say hey to someone at one of the tents, want to come with me?" Jude asked her.

"Sure!" Caitlin looked eager to spend sometime with him.

"We'll grab some good seats before their gone. I'll text you our location." Nikki offered.

"Thanks, bra." Jude said. He wrapped an arm around Caitlin's waist and pulled her along.

"Ah, young love." Jen remarked as she followed her friends toward the stadium style seating that had been set up encircling the arena.

***

Jude pulled Caitlin over to a tent that had a "Quick Skate Repairs" sign handing from one of it's poles. A young man with a deep tan and long black hair turned to scope them out as they approached. Something about him felt very Native American to Caitlin. He raised an eyebrow and stood up with a look of concern. Caitlin did her best not to gasp. He towered above her, her eyes only reached the middle of his chest.

"Don't tell me you've already broken it, man, I can't handle it." he said to them.

"No worries, dude. I've been taking good care of it. Tuck it into bed and everything." Jude joked, as the two bumped fists. "How's it going?"

"Eh, pretty well. No ones needed me yet, so I've got plenty of time to kick Amanda's ass at poker." he motioned over his shoulder to the pink haired girl that had helped Jude before.

She waved. "Bonjour."

"Hey!" Jude smiled.

"So, what're you here for? Just looking to shoot the breeze until it's time for you to go on?" He folded his arms and let his eyes flick over Caitlin's tiny frame. "Who's the lady?"

"Oh wow, sorry, my manners suck. This is my girlfriend, Caitlin. She's cheering me on today. Cait, this is Joe. He's the king of fixing up boards." Jude beamed.

The young man offered his hand and she took it cautiously. Instead of shaking her hand, he gave a little bow instead. "It's a pleasure."

"Mine too." Caitlin responded, unsure of what to think.

"Aren't we the charmer?" Amanda noted as she picked her nails with a toothpick. "You never treat me that way."

"You're a different case." Joe said, shooting her a cutting glance.

"We actually need to catch up with some people. I just wanted to swing by and tell you thanks for the wheels. They're really working out well." Jude said.

"The trick is to be sure not to tighten the bolt too much." Joe admitted. "Gives you a little boost. Let me do it for you though, you'd probably end up losing your wheels if you did it yourself."

"I wouldn't rely on anybody else for my boarding needs, dude." Jude assured him.

"Good. Well, I'll let you catch up with your friends. Good luck today, man. We're rooting for you." Joe clapped Jude on the back.

"Thanks, man." Jude led Caitlin back towards the arena. Once they were out of earshot, Jude asked her what she thought of Joe.

"He seems really nice. A little intimidating at first, but nice. He was kind of rough with that girl that was with him, though." Caitlin rubbed her arm as if she were suddenly cold.

"They've always messed with each other. I guess it worked out well for them, though. They're getting married in the Spring." Jude mentioned, as he checked his cell phone for a text message.

"Woah, are you serious?! Crazy…" Caitlin trailed off. She was used to being able to tell people relationships to one another with just one look, but all these people she met through Jude were so hard to read. It messed with her head. She missed just knowing and not having to investigate to get the whole story. Jude announced that Nikki had let him know where to meet them and led her up the stairs. Jonesy was tossing pieces of popcorn into his mouth flipping-a-coin style and trying to catch them in his mouth. Jude reached out and grabbed one just before it landed in Jonesy's mouth and ate it himself.

"Too slow." Jude said, settling down next him.

"Eh, I licked it anyway."

"Like that would bother me." Jude then focused his attention on the other skaters. He wanted to see if there was anyone he had to look out for. The Group A competition had started sometime during his short conversation with Joe. Aside from a tiny Asian girl with flawless grinds and nearly perfect flip tricks, there wasn't anyone Jude would've considered competition. The Group B competition was set to begin soon. Jude watched as the competitors began to warm up. Again, no one caught his eye. Jude leaned back in his seat, ready to relax when one of the skaters executed a perfect lip trick on one of the ramps. He sat up straight. _'Woah… that was nice.'_ Jude watched in growing intimidation as the skater (Number 39) continued to perform perfect tricks and slides. Once the Group B section began, the skater started doing tricks that were even more elaborate and impressive. Jude felt himself sink into his seat. He wished he could keep going, soaking through the floor into the center of the Earth where he'd never have to deal with the kind of inferiority complex he was having now. The session ended and the participants gathered their boards and headed off the park.

"_**Group C Competition will start in 15 minutes. All Group C contestants report to the center ramp for instructions." **_

"That's you!" Wyatt nudged Jude slightly.

"I think I'm gonna hurl." Jude said.

"Better here than down there." Jonesy advised.

"Oh, please not here." Jen said, lifting her feet off of the ground and onto her seat. She knew for a fact she'd lose her lunch, too, if she had to go through that. Well, if she'd had any lunch.

Caitlin placed her hand gently on one of Jude's. "You're going to be just fine. I know you can do it."

Jude cocked a lopsided grin. "Thanks."

Jonesy rolled his eyes. "Gag me."

"If you insist." Nikki said, making a strangling motion at him.

Jude stood up and took a deep breath. "Better get down there I guess." He tossed Caitlin his phone. "Hold this for me."

"No problem."

Jude made his way to the set up. He couldn't ignore his pounding heart. What if he totally blew it? What if he fell flat on his face? He wasn't sure if he'd want to live through the embarrassment or die right then.

A short woman with a headset called the group of skaters together. She spoke quickly, slurring some words together. "Okayguys. You've got ten minutestowarmup. After that, we'll soundahornandthat'llmean GO!, okay? Giveityourall from that point. Have fun!" She skittered off speaking nonstop into her headset. Jude shrugged and did a few basic tricks, getting used to the amount of bounce back he would get from the ground and the smoothness of it. He skated normally for a bit and tried a nose grind. Nailed it! Not too shabby. He tried out a board slide next. The rails didn't have much resistance so he didn't lose much speed on the grinds or slides. This was good.

The horn sounded. Jude took a deep breath and let loose. After the first few board grabs and kick flips, Jude forgot he was even in a competition and just concentrated on skating. He even made a point of doing an Impossible back to back with a 360 Pop Shove It to show that he knew the difference. He could vaguely hear his friends cheering for him, although they were mostly engulfed by crowd noise. Before he knew it, the short session was over and everyone was heading out. He was tempted to keep going, but knew it would make him look arrogant.

When he stepped off the park, his friends were waiting for him.

"You were amazing!" Caitlin exclaimed hugging him.

"You tore it up, dude!" Jonesy said.

"Did I really? I kind of forgot to pay attention to what I was doing." Jude admitted.

"Absolutely! Do what ever you just did later, and you've got a serious shot at winning!" Wyatt agreed.

"Thanks dudes." Jude beamed. He could feel his stomach growling. "I need something to eat." He decided not to watch the final group skate. It would just make him freak out again. Instead, he indulged himself in a huge serving of cheese fries. Greasy food laced with preservatives always calmed his nerves. The good feeling was gone once he realized that they'd probably already posted the results regarding who'd go to the finals. Nervously, he scarfed down the last of his food and headed toward the bulletin board. He'd noted where it was when he'd entered. Jude approached it alone. He'd waved his friends away when they'd stood up to follow. He wanted to have a moment to be sad if it turned out that he didn't make it after all and they were only being nice when they'd congratulated him. Most of the crowd had dissipated by the time he got there. The list was surprisingly short.

**Finalists:**

**M. Trang-22**

**A. Kintz-39**

**L. Michaels-44**

**J. Lizowski-46**

**H. Orphis-76**

Jude figured that the first one was the Asian girl he'd noted in the first group. The second was definitely the wicked good dude from the second heat. The third was a member of Group C, like Jude, but Jude figured he hadn't noticed because he'd been too involved in his own skating. Jude's heart was filled with too much joy at the sight of his own name on the list to care about who the last name belonged too.

"We're the only ones worth fretting over." said a voice from behind.

Jude whipped around to see the guy from Group B that he'd admired. "What?"

"You and I… are the only skaters…worth being… concerned about." he repeated, slower this time to be sure Jude got the message. "I watched you in your group's round. You're pretty good."

Jude cracked a smile. "Thanks."

"Don't get too cocky. I came to win. I'm bringing it hard for the final's competition." He flicked his head to knock his shaggy bangs out of the way of his eyes. "I figured I'd at least pay you a compliment, though. You're definitely the second best skater out there."

"Assuming you're the first?" Jude raised an eyebrow.

"Knowing I'm the first." Without another word, A. Kintz turned on his heel and headed back towards the stands. Jude didn't know what to do with himself. Had he just been complimented or verbally assaulted? The lines in the short conversation were intensely blurred.

***

Jude took a moment to scope out the competition. The five finalists had been gathered up and were waiting for their instructions. Jude had been right about M. Trang (the 'M' stood for Michelle). It was the Asian girl from the first round. She was incredibly small. Maybe five foot at the tallest and had an almost non-existent frame. A. Kintz, whose first name Jude had discovered to be Aaron, looked unequivocally disinterested in the whole thing as he scrutinized his nails. Jude felt annoyed at his arrogance. Jude shook his head and turned his attention to L. Michaels, who'd complained about having the name Leonard and stated he'd rather be called Leo. He was a tall, gangly kid whose eyes were completely hidden by shaggy red hair. He learned over and said something to Trang, who giggled. Jude was surprised by the sweet smoothness of his voice. He'd expected a crackly, teenagers voice. Jude realized this guy must be at least in his twenties. And finally, there was H. Orphis, who'd introduced himself as Hunter. He was ridiculously young. A high school Freshman at the oldest and a seventh grader at the youngest. He stood with purpose, though, as if he didn't even notice that he was half the age of some of the others and that he thought he was the best skater in the world. Jude had to admire that kind of confidence.

The fast-talking woman from before rushed up and clapped her hands twice. "Okay, thingsaregoingtobe just like last time. Just dowhatyou'regoodat and forgetaboutthestuff you're not. Get ready, we'restartingsoon."

Jude took a deep breath. This was it. He glanced over at Aaron who only cracked his knuckles and neck and crouched over his board. No one else looked concerned either. Jude wondered if he was the only one who was freaking out. Jude was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the horn sound. He sprang into action as quickly as possible and started off doing one or two simple tricks to get his bearings back, then moved onto move complicated jumps and grinds. Jude scoped out the other skaters out of the corner of his eye just in time to see Michelle Trang do an impressive board slide. _'Oh man…' _Jude shook his head and tried to concentrate on the rest of his set. _'Just skate, dude, just skate. Don't even think about it. Just do it.'_ His own encouragement got him through the rest of the competition. He didn't even attempt to think about everyone else. He just let himself feels his way through his board to the ground to the ramps to the tricks. He didn't even realize the immense height he was getting on the jumps. The horn sounded again just in time for Jude to land his final trick. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest from adrenaline and physical exhaustion. It was done. Now all that was left was wait for the results. Jude rubbed the back of his neck. _'Dude…' _Jude thought as he stretched his shoulder muscles. _'I just want to eat.'_

***

The five finalists were lined up on the stage. The fast-talking manager from the first two rounds told them that they'd be announced fifth place to first place with their preferred first name and last name (this pleased Leonard-called-Leo) and given their final score (out of 300) at that time. Hunter Orphis revealed that he was only 12 (but 13 in three weeks!) and couldn't stand his seventh grade class. Aaron agreed, saying middle school sucked and that he'd rather be anywhere but there again. "Word." Hunter agreed.

"Enoughsmalltalk." She was back. "Be quiet. We're startingsoon."

They were quick to silence themselves. Despite her stunted height, she was one menacing woman. No one wanted to limp up to get their placing. The ceremonies were boring at best. Speeches about 'everyone is a winner', testimonies about 'skating back in the day', and a nod to the sponsors dominated the first half hour.

"Get on with it." Jude heard Aaron hiss. "I'm exhausted."

"For real." Michelle Trang said. "I'm, like, massively craving my favorite sushi, man."

"Pizza…" Hunter mused.

"And now, for the results." The announcer, a portly bald man, decided.

"Thank goodness." Leo whispered, as they all straightened up.

"In fifth place, with a score of 238, Leo Michaels!"

"Hah, spoke too soon dudes." Leo accepted his prize graciously and moved to the far side of the stage. Jude squirmed a bit. This was more nerve-wracking than he'd expected.

"Our fourth place winner is Michelle Trang with a final score of 245!" Grinned the announcer.

She said nothing, except to thank the top judge, who handed her the award. Surprisingly, she carried herself with a strong sense of grace. Aaron noticed this, too, and whispered to Jude that she did beauty pageants on the side. Jude's eyebrows shot up. He'd never seen that one coming.

"In third place, with a score of 269, let's congratulate Hunter Orphis, our youngest competitior!"

"Look for me next year, I'll get you yet!" Hunter shot Aaron and Jude a playful grin. "I'm still young."

The final two chuckled as Hunter left their sides. "Fun kid." Jude remarked. Aaron nodded in return. "Competition, too." The two realized simultaneously that they were they were the only people left.

"This is it, dude. You or me." Aaron remarked.

"Good luck, bro." Jude cocked a smile.

"You too, man, you too." Aaron shifted his weight from foot to foot in anticipation.

"And now, for our runner up…" The announcer left his voice trail off.

'_Come on, dude, don't do this to me! I can't take it.'_ Jude thought.

"…with a score of 289, is… Jude Lizowski!" Jude could hear the crowd erupt, and for a moment thought he could hear Caitlin and Jonesy competing to see who could be louder. Jude smirked and accepted his trophy.

The Judge leaned close to his ear. "I won't guarantee anything, but know that my company will have it's eye on you in the coming years." Before Jude could respond, the announcer named Aaron Kintz as the competition champ and Jude was led away. He gave the judge a thumbs-up and high-fived Aaron as he walked past. Jude leaned over to Hunter as he approached and asked him about Aaron's final score.

"Psh, 297. The jerk." Hunter scoffed, jokingly. "Guess I'll have to practice twice as hard for next year."

"Yeah…" Jude mused. "Guess so…"

He watched as Aaron posed for a photo with the judging panel. Maybe someday.

***

Caitlin threw her arms around Jude as he stepped of the stage. "Congratulations!!" She pulled his face down and kissed him. Caitlin giggled.

Jonesy rolled his eyes. "Get a room."

Jude raised an eyebrow. "What? Jealous?" Zing. Jude had gotten Jonesy somewhere around the heart area.

"Nah. You're too scrawny for my tastes." A blow to the self-esteem. Low blow, Jonesy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" It was Nikki's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"That I'm stupid and will never live up to your superior intellect." Jonesy replied, with a lopsided grin.

"Ah, what a well-trained puppy you've got there." Jen remarked.

"All it takes is a squirt bottle and a rolled up newspaper and you, too, can have one of your very own." Nikki quipped.

"I'll keep it in mind." Jen replied.

"Dudes, as much as I love dripping sarcasm, I'm starving so…" Jude interrupted.

"Good plan! I say we treat you to a smorgasbord of Chinese food." Wyatt agreed.

"That sounds perfect." Nikki said, eagerly.

"Hey, Lizowski!" called a voice from behind.

Jude turned to see none other than Aaron Kintz standing behind him.

"You here to rub your victory in my face?" Jude asked.

"On the contrary, I'm here to express my surprise and concern. You totally had the moves to win it."

"I did?" Jude asked with mild surprise.

"Sure did. Too bad you freaked before we'd even started. I was really hoping you'd show me who's boss. So, I'm leaving you with this: show up next year and give me a real Jude Lizowski run for my money… or I'll pound your face in. I can tell you've got more up your sleeve than what I saw today. Promise?" He held out a fist.

Jude chuckled. "Only if you bring it, too."

"Do you have to ask?"

Jude placed his fist against Aaron's. "It's a deal."

"Are you almost done?" Michelle Trang skipped up and put her hand around Aaron's arm. "I'm starving and those Spider Rolls are calling my name."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later, dude, my girlfriend calls." Aaron grinned.

"Congratulations, Jude!" she called over her shoulder as she pulled Aaron along.

"I would've never guessed that." Jen mused.

"I guess you can never tell who's going to end up together in the end." Jonesy said. Only Jude picked up on the true undertone of Jonesy's remark.

"Yeah. I guess it's a mystery." Caitlin agreed.

"Let's just eat already." Jude said, a bit shortly.

"To Hong Kong Palace!" Nikki declared, tossing her fist in the air.

"To Hong Kong Palace!" Jude joined her in her fist pump.

"Shotgun!" Jonesy called as he raced past them.

"No fair!" Jude exclaimed.

"Get back here!" Nikki chased after him, followed by Jude and Jen.

Caitlin and Wyatt chuckled together.

"I like us." Caitlin mused. "Just like this."

"Yeah, six stupid teenagers who can't get enough of each other." Wyatt remarked.

"Exactly." Caitlin agreed. She jumped onto Wyatt's back, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Take me to the car, Jenkins!"

"Yes, my lady! Whatever you wish!" Wyatt took off at full speed towards the rest of their gang, who stood impatiently beside Wyatt's white SUV. None of them had considered that they didn't have the key. Caitlin was right. It all should stay just like this.

***

Okay, so I've never been to or watched a skating competition, so I really winged it on this chapter. However, I did do my homework on different skateboarding moves so it would be as authentic as possible. I don't want to say this was a filler chapter since I didn't intend it to be, but I really felt like I didn't get much done as far as the plot goes. However, hopefully I can tie it into the story later so that it doesn't feel like a filler, but an actual plot-moving chapter.


	9. Advanced Biology

"Jen, help me with this." Jude pushed his Biology homework her way. The two were sitting at the gang's usual table at the Lemon, working (in Jen's case diligently; in Jude's case…not so much) on studying for their exams. "I don't get it."

Jen sighed and looked over the book for a moment. "What don't you get?"

"All of it." Jude sighed. He'd been trying to work his way through the material for his mid-terms, Biology in particular, for just under an hour and had gotten no where. The sciences, along with math, French, history and government were not his strong points. He did enjoy Geography, though. It was straight forward and was easy for him to grasp. Maps, coordinates, locations of cities and countries…kid's stuff really. Same with English. It was basically all just grammar and reading. He could totally handle that. But biology…

"You mean, like, the whole chapter?" Jen have him a worried look.

"Like, the whole book." Jude admitted. He may as well be honest about it.

Jen sank down in disbelief. "The whole book?"

"Well, I get the stuff about cell division. That's good right?" Jude asked hopefully. Jen raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe not so good…"

"Well, okay, I mean, it IS a whole chapter you don't have to worry about, right? That's good!" Jen was obviously straining to find something positive about the situation.

"How many chapters are there in total?" Jude asked, raising his eyebrows in hope.

Jen checked the table of contents, then cringed. "Forty-seven."

"I'm screwed." Jude said realistically. "Oh man, I'm totally screwed, Jen! I'm going to fail this class, which will lead to me flunking out of high school, which will mean no college, which means I'm going to work at Underground Video for the rest of my life!!" Jude grabbed Jen's shoulders. "I can't work at Underground for the rest of my life, Jen, I just can't!"

Jen grabbed his face with both hands. "Get a grip! You're going to be fine! I will help you!"

Jude and Jen stared at each other for a moment. Jude finally spoke. "Your shoulders sure are bony."

"Ugh!" Jen rolled her eyes and thumped Jude in the forehead. He plopped backwards into his chair. "You **must** focus! Caitlin, tell him to focus."

Caitlin, who'd been relaxing behind the lemon counter, looked up from her magazine. "What?"

"I'm going to work at Underground for the rest of my life, dudette!" Jude said to her.

Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "Ew, why?"

"No, he's not." Jen cut in. "Jude, you are going to pass this class if I have to make you study in your sleep!"

"That's okay, bra. I can barely stand studying while I'm awake." Jude assured her, patting her 'bony' shoulder.

"Well, get ready to--" Jen stopped short. "Is that Wyatt?" She pointed over Jude's shoulder. Caitlin and Jude both turned. Sure enough, Wyatt was leaning against the wall outside Burger McFlipster's, coffee in hand, chatting up some chick. Except, that chick was Serena.

Caitlin frowned. "I though he was over Serena."

"He is." Jude said, trying to think of a legit reason Wyatt would be acting so cozy with her.

"Better tell Wyatt that." Jen remarked. The three watched him finish his drink, hug Serena goodbye, and return to his post inside the burger joint.

"Weird…" The three of them said in unison.

"I feel like a spy!" Caitlin giggled.

"I feel like I've seen something I shouldn't have." Jen said.

"And _I_ feel like a taco. Back in five!" Jen stood to leave, but Jen pulled him back into his seat.

"Oh no, you are NOT going to Wonder Taco at a time like this!" Jen said.

"Who's going to Wonder Taco?" Jonesy asked, wandering over and taking a seat.

"Not Jude." Jen declared. "He's going to study." She pushed the book over to the sulking blonde. "Hard."

"Harsh." Jonesy mused.

"You're telling me." Jude turned a page in his book, read it, then turned another. Jen slapped a hand over the paragraph he was reading.

"What did the last two pages say?" she demanded.

Jude smiled sheepishly. "Uh… heh heh… something about biospheres?"

Jen sighed and rubbed her temple with her free hand. "This is going to be some kind of adventure."

***

And it was. When Jen wasn't making Jude recite the five levels of organization, she was tossing flashcards on his lunch tray or calling him at three in the morning to make sure he knew what every last part of the cell did. (You definitely knew a piece of information if you could recite it to someone in a half-asleep middle-of-the-night stupor.) Jen, happily enough for her, had been eating even less now that she was helping Jude with his exams. She found it to be a simple, plausible excuse to skip meals. Jonesy and Caitlin had conveniently found that they didn't need to study (Jonesy because he was too lazy and Caitlin because she only worried about Calculus, which she was all set for) and spent most of their time watching movies in one room while their friends poured over charts and textbooks in another. And then, it was midterm week. Jude met it's arrival with mixed feelings. On the bright side, all the studying Jen had made him do had kept his mind off of the Jonesy/Caitlin situation and the energy he planned on putting into his exams would keep his mind of the situation until he answered the very last question of Friday's very last exam. Plus, it also meant that he was done studying!! Jackpot. However, mid-term week also meant, obviously, mid-terms. Which blew. A lot.

The six teens stood outside the school doors in a line, all facing the building.

"Okay, it's come at last." Caitlin said in a determined voice.

"Midterms. The lesser evil of the two 'term' exams." Nikki elaborated, also in a determined tone.

"The ultimate practice test for finals." Wyatt cracked his knuckles.

"If one of us doesn't return, we're sending someone in to rescue them." Jonesy stood with his hands on his hips, looking like a warrior about to go into battle. "No man-or woman-left behind!"

"Everyone got their pencils and calculators?" Jen asked and was met by confident nods and murmurs of assurance.

"Well then," Jude began. "Let's go in there... and do it!" He pumped his fist in the air.

"Ugh, cut the dramatics. It's just bunch of stupid tests. You're all so immature." Chrissy, followed closely by the Clones, glided past them into the building.

"Well, that was a morale killer." Jonesy said, annoyed.

"I like our dramatics." Caitlin mumbled, defensively.

"Leave it to the clones to kill everyone's spirits." Nikki added.

"Do what you're good at, I suppose." Wyatt tucked his No. 2 pencil behind his ear and zipped up his lucky jacket to brace himself against the cold October wind.

"When are you going to stop wearing that thing?" Caitlin asked. "You know it's not _really_ lucky."

Wyatt shrugged. "I like the familiarity. Besides, you can't be too careful."

"I'm going in." Nikki said, hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder. She gave Jonesy a quick peck in the lips and discretely slipped a note into his jacket pocket. "Good luck, you guys!"

"I'm going, too. Meet at the Lemon after all this nonsense is done with, okay?" Jonesy said and followed his girlfriend into the school. He casually slipped his hand into hers. "What do you have first?"

"French III. No big deal." Nikki said nonchalantly. "You?"

"Advanced Biology," he replied with disdain. He, Jude and Wyatt had taken the class because it looked better to colleges than just plain ol' Biology. Well, in reality Wyatt had convinced them it was easy and they'd believed him. Wyatt was, it seemed, a liar.

"Poor baby." she teased, pinching his cheek. "How will you ever survive?"

"I'll just have to concentrate on something that makes me happy, I guess." Jonesy mused.

"Like what?" Nikki was ready for the next line. He'd probably pull out some line such as 'something like you' or whatever.

"I dunno, like roller coasters or mini corn dogs or something." he said, knowing fully well what she'd been expecting him to say.

"You're so full of it." Nikki said jokingly.

"And you love me anyway! So, what does that say about **you**?"

"That I'm seriously deranged."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." he replied with sarcasm. "I'll see you later."

"Have fun!" she called sadistically.

"Like a car accident." Jonesy dropped heavily into his assigned seat in his first classroom. Jude sat next to him.

"Good luck, bro. Maybe we can make it through." Jude said in assurance.

"Too bad we don't have Wyatt's jacket." Jonesy said, smirking.

"Oh, dude, that _is_ a shame." Jude replied, picking up on the joke.

Wyatt took his seat two spots ahead of Jude. "Don't diss the jacket, dudes." He popped the collar half-jokingly and crossed his legs over the desktop.

Jude and Jonesy shared a look of amusement as their teacher called them to order. After the exams had been distributed Jonesy stared at the test in disbelief. Apparently, an hour of studying wasn't enough for a seven page exam. Who knew? He slid down in his seat and searched through his pocket for an eraser. He found Nikki's note instead. He glanced left and right to make sure he wouldn't be seen and unfolded it.

**Good luck today! I love you. Seriously. -Nik**

Jonesy put his face down on top of the exam and smiled ecstatically into his desk. _'Hah, I love you, too, Nikki, I love you, too.' _he thought to himself. He wiggled his toes in his shoes in order to get all the joy out, but too no avail. He was simply too full of it.

***

_I was in the mood for a lighter chapter, since I've kind of felt that my past few have been somewhat heavy. I've totally felt that giggly bubbly feeling when you love somebody, so I thought it was a nice way to end this one. Jonesy's not as nonchalant about Nikki as he may want everyone to think. Hope you enjoyed!_


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